works








 

previous/next the mycelial light show

fall 2021
copper wire, string, candles, mirrors, people, glass cups, water, glitter, matches, lighters, found vessel

I drew maps of communities I held close to my heart. Each person in a bubble, with their individual relationships to others drawn in lines kind of like a web or a net. With each line I drew connecting people I conjured memories of their closeness and care for one another and I thought of how even though their love exists without me it is embedded in a superstructure that affected me. Inspired by mycorrhizal networks and the way resources are distributed, rather than relying on a single person or couple of close confidants, in these social structures, more time and care was available to us all. 

This work is an expression of the deep loss I felt in the absence of these communities and the glowing gratitude and abundant love and stability I felt inside of these experiences.  It is about interdependence and the ways we have the potential to care for one another. It is about what is lost when we forget one another. It is about how growth and grief often go hand and hand. It is about mapping and the necessity of organization as a means to fight the psychological violence and deep digitized loneliness of today. 

Candles have a way of making things feel sacred and reminding people of loss. people slow down when they watch the fire. I tied string and wire from one candle to another. I connected the wicks to burn through so that the flame from one candle could light the next. I placed mirrors around it and had people bring glasses of water to magnify the light. I asked that they all step in to help me if the light didn’t travel successfully. 


Afterwards, i scooped the remains into a dirty oil pan that looked sweet like the frame on an old portrait. Every once in a while I sit and play with in the goop wax puddle and fire.