created by Willoughby Arevalo & Isabelle Kirouac
in collaboration with Mountainside/SmanitaXan Secondary School students
This living mycelial sculpture of a human figure was made of a wooden armature covered with recycled cotton clothing, wrapped and inoculated with blue and pink oyster mushroom mycelium. Over a couple of weeks, oyster mushrooms slowly ate and fruited out of it. Oyster mushrooms can digest toxic dyes and contribute to remediation. The sculpture, which is now decomposing and returning to the soil, has been exhibited at Mountainside/SmanitaXan Secondary School and Maplewood House in North Vancouver. It was also featured as part of Flashlight Mysteries at Deas Island Regional Park. This project was funded by North Van Arts and ArtStarts.
To learn more about the process, please consult this document designed by Michelle Richard, North Van Arts:
The Art & Fungi Project 