Installations
This installation captures the natural world in the mountains of Western North Carolina where I spent a large amount of my youth hiking the trails and exploring the area. Through a variety of paper sculpture techniques, which also include stitching, painting, and digital photography, the work intends to express elements discovered in nature where mushrooms flourish. Digital photographs are printed onto Mulberry paper and shaped into domes or mushroom caps using the darting technique. Some images face outwards while others are seen in cup-like forms. Nets hang from several caps, which represent both an actual mushroom called the bridal veil stinkhorn and images of pathways taken from various trails. The bulk of fungi is growing underground and is composed of long threads or networks moving in multiple directions called mycelium. The web of mycelium creates pathways between trees and other plants to help transport nutrients. A blue cord is wrapped around pins and black painted paper circles, the latter of which mimic the shape of button mushrooms, to connect the various elements of the installation. It leads your eye through the work and the space around it.