My work grapples with the contradiction of caring deeply for the environment while participating in systems leading to its destruction. This conflict underscores my concepts and my process as I facilitate human and non-human partnerships to envision a more sustainable and symbiotic future. Using mycelium, fungal spores, kombucha cultures, and found natural items I create sculptures, drawings, and prints. I try to control these materials; however, their inherently unruly qualities force me to give them agency. This push and pull between me and the material mimic the fallible attempts of human authority over the environment. The process and resulting works illuminate this relationship and highlight how natural organisms will continue to evade human restraint.
Recently, I have been developing a mycelium clay mixture to build and grow sculptures using the fungi’s innate tendencies. I develop my drawing and printmaking practice alongside the sculptures, ensuring each influences the form of the other. Throughout my work, I am in conversation with landscape ecology diagrams, urban maps, and scientific illustrations that help me investigate the flexible boundaries between the built and natural worlds. By revealing the intertwined relationships between humans and nature, my work promotes a greater comprehension of how our built world has direct and drastic effects on the environment. Ultimately, I aim to encourage discussions about the elaborate ecosystems we live within and solutions for their, and our, continued survival.