Funguise Gallery
Artist Statement:
My tools of the trade are polymer clay, acrylic, ink, and watercolors. With both my sculptures and illustrations, I love to explore the world of fungi - and I’m fascinated with how people perceive and interact with mushrooms.
So the characters in my art, the Funguise Friends, not only provide chuckles with their cheeky personalities and awful puns, but they also tickle your curiosity and ask: What is your relationship with “mushrooms”? (continued below…)
Artist Statement (continued…)
Growing up I was never a fan of “pizza mushrooms” (the ones you can get at the grocery store - Agaricus bisporus, aka: the button mushroom) so I never paid any mind to fungi….
But the idea to sculpt a mushroom captured me one day, and after scouring the internet for reference photos of all the colors, textures, and incredibly wild shapes they grow in – an unusual fascination set in.
Soon I was reading books about mushrooms, watching movies about mushrooms, and eating any variety of mushrooms I could get my hands on (turns out they don’t all taste the same!)
After just a few months, I had fallen in love with these incredible organisms – and that love was reflected in my art, which had clearly started to grow a personality of its own. Thus the Funguise were born out of my whimsical exploration into the science of mycology!
So the Funguise Friends are constantly evolving as my understanding of fungi continues to grow - but I’ll always leave room for creative interpretation. Although many of the shapes, colors, and textures are still inspired by real world fungi - I still love to create characters that celebrate a combination of all the different features.
Honestly, I like to consider my artwork a great “gateway” for folks who are general mushroom fans – lured in by the butts and the bright colors – but there’s so much more to them than that. Please, stay a while and listen!
Most of all, I love that my artwork lets me connect with mushroom lovers at all stages: Like those who appreciate toadstools as a trendy “cottagecore” icon - or those who’ve experienced emotional and spiritual healing with the aid of psychedelics - or maybe even those who have foraged for decades, passing that knowledge down through their families - or better yet, those who are harnessing the incredible versatility of fungi to change the world!