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"THE MUSHROOM SERIES"

THE MUSHROOM SERIES

I have created the MUSHROOM SERIES during a moist season in Michigan. Mist on the lakes and thunder all around. Lots of rain along with warm nights.

They ooze up through the earth during the night, like bubbles, growing and expanding rapidly - like my thoughts. Like an idea that comes and goes. Suddenly it is there and I have no clue where it came from or what initiated it. Some grow very slowy and add tissue to their fruitbodies by growing from the edges of the colony or by inserting hyphae.
Mushrooms feed in shade, on halfleaves as they return to water, on slowly melting logs, deadwood. Sometimes hey glow in the dark. Like a vision. It always needs a vision to create change.

Mushrooms that have psychoactive properties have long played a role in various native medicine traditions in cultures all around the world.They have been used as sacrament in rituals aimed at mental and physical healing, and to facilitate visionary states. One such ritual is the velada ceremony. A practitioner of traditionel mushroom use is the shaman and curandera (priesthealer).

I have used paper mache for my mushrooms, and added weight at the bottom to secure a better standing. The paper mache is covered by layers of acrylic paint, newspaper and magazine images and finally with a high gloss protecting film.