FUNGI
Through my work I respond to my natural environment. For over two decades, trees have been the focus of my ceramic sculpture. On slow walks in the forest I'm drawn to the oddities, disruptions in the growth patterns of trees like bracket fungi, burls, and gnarls. This fungi series explores the role they play in the life cycle of trees. Bracket fungi or polypores inhabit the trunks or branches of sick or dying trees forming strange woody fruiting bodies called conks. The fungi consume the wood and aid in the decomposition. For me, this behind-the-scenes magic has an unexpected beauty crumbling back into soil and I’m drawn to these surreal forms popping out of tree trunks with an endless variety of shapes, colors, and textures. I collect bracket fungi from decaying trees in the forest. Back in the studio I assemble fungi and branches into new configurations before sculpting the models in clay.
