Alice Watson - BA (Hons) Fine Art
Mycelium
Through my deep appreciation for natural environments, I meticulously seek out and capture the harmonious balance between organic and man-made elements in my artwork as a reflection of connection to the world around me. I meander through natural forms, “wandering” through and “wondering” what I will come across. I seek high and low to crave that satisfaction of wanting to find new organic shapes, creating a catalyst of work that stems from my physical hunting within natural spaces. I have settled on the appreciation of fungi, thinking about the control the mycelium networks have on the natural world and making connections across the subterranean part of the world. I have been investigating the forms, uses, properties, look, colour, etc, all to build up my own impressions that map out a personal view of Fungi and Mycelium.
I build on the intrigue of organic shapes by incorporating elements from the modern man-made world, especially with how it has such an impact within the natural world. The organic wildness “tiptoeing” around, trying to avoid destruction. I view the artificial world much like the connecting web of mycelium, I see humanity stretching out and wrapping itself around, changing the organic elements permanently.
The use of colour has been a key part of the process, using photoshop to manipulate the original colours making them bold and unnatural, veering onto the psychedelic abilities’ fungi have on human body. Form has been another important part of the process. Looking at the physical shape the fungi have and how each one is so drastically different. I have been subtracting the form out of the original image, making some into a permanent material so I can hold and understand the shape further.
