Throughout history artists have directly impacted how the world experiences itself. As a bio artist with ecological principles, I believe we carry a responsibility to our materials in addition to the communities we serve and the narratives we create. The responsibility lives in the art of communication. Although I am not a scientist, I share my research on botanical painting recipes and experiments with processing natural and foraged materials into botanical palettes in my workshops.  My focus is also on using mycelium as a medium. My journey of healing has been to understand how our bodies work, so in a sense it's very much like my goal as an artist to reveal the majesty of the underground, ultimately casting light on what cannot be seen. 

 

The primary goal of ecologists is to improve their understanding of life processes, interactions, and the biodiversity of organisms. As an bio artist, I want to visualize what cannot be seen and share what that means for all of us. I share bits of my research in both my work and my workshops. I have been an artist for over 30 years and I only entered this space 6 years ago. My thoughts, intentions, and processes live in a space of spirit or energy. I recently shared a bio painting titled The Interior Life of a Mermaid with the Minnetrista Museum and Gardens, part of a larger exhibition Open Space: Art About the Land. The sculptural pieces of  this work were grown from mycelium. The colors used were from Indigo as well as foraged Japanese Maple resin as a highlight in the piece to directly speak to the topic in relation to the land and what trees provide us: food, shelter, medicine, and clean air.

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Articulating the experience of working with mycelium is difficult because it’s as close to Spirit as I can get as a human. My painted works are informed by the middle ages. As a creative I'm most inspired by Hildegard von Bingen. She is also known as Saint Hildegard and the Sibyl of the Rhine, was a German Benedictine abbess and polymath active as a writer, composer, philosopher, mystic, visionary, and as a medical writer and practitioner during the High Middle Ages. "Hildegard spoke often of viriditas, the greening of things from within, analogous to what we now call photosynthesis. She saw that there was a readiness in plants to receive the sun and to transform its light and warmth into energy and life. She recognized that there is an inherent connection between the Divine Presence and the physical world. This Creator-to-created connection translates into inner energy that is the soul and seed of every thing, an inner voice calling us to “become who you are; become all that you are.” This is our life wish or “whole-making instinct.”

 

She has served as inspiration to me since I was 17 years old and I first learned about her in a women's studies class during my undergraduate studies. It is a challenge to visually articulate what is not seen. I feel the same about forests, animals, and all sentient beings and our own bodies. It is a challenge to reach into a space few have traveled before. Bio art is my way of combating eco-grief, a term coined by Jane Goodall in her new book Hope. As a bio artist, I encourage other artists and my community to innovate with me. If we can overcome eco-grief together by exploring alternative sustainable materials, it is one way we can address our climate crises. My responsibility is to create works that are approachable, engaging and stimulate innovation and continued stewardship of the natural world. 

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I use mycelium as a primary medium as well as clay. I found my way to the underground via a scholarship I received from The Fantastic Fungi Global Summit in 2021.  An introduction to mycelium should go hand-and-hand with the materials provided to me during the Fantastic Fungi Global Summit. The summit was saturated with authors, leaders, scientists, mycologists, and biologists, such as Paul Stamets, Andrew Weil and First Nation Tiokasin Ghosthorse. I discovered the film Fantastic Fungi by Louie Schwartzberg during recovery from surgery after being in a car accident initiated by an impaired driver. I began research as soon as one arm healed enough for me to read. I was searching for a new way to visually articulate myself and for materials light enough not to put pressure on my arms and hands. After the car accident in 2018, I spent the first two years moving through surgeries, healing, meditation, research, and recovery.  The experience has been pivotal to me having an environmental awakening. 

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After 20 years of working in oils, and collage in a large format, I was searching for a new medium that didn’t further challenge the electrical connections in my arms and hands. My website is called T6DH, which references The 6 Directions of Healing. Healing myself with the same materials I now use in my artwork feels whole and complete. My process is a sacred practice and my greatest joy. I am always ready to talk about the amazing finds by my favorite mycologists: Paul Stamets, and Merlin Sheldrake, whose book Entangled Life is filled with mycelia majesty and mystery.