Living Seam 

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2021

Size: 594 x 420 mm
Media: Fabric, embroidery thread, wire, polymer clay, dried flowers and leaves

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In his book, Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures, Merlin Sheldrake says: “Mycelium is ecological connective tissue, the living seam by which much of the world is stitched into relation. In school classrooms children are shown anatomical charts, each depicting different aspects of the human body. If we made equivalent sets of diagrams to portray ecosystems, one of the layers would show the fungal mycelium that runs through them. We would see sprawling, interlaced webs strung through the soil, through sulfurous sediments hundreds of meters below the surface of the ocean, along coral reefs, through plant and animal bodies both alive and dead.”

This work aims to reveal the similarities in the design of different intricate structures across all aspects of nature. The work depicts mycelial networks as the metaphorical circulatory system of nature. The mycelium is represented by the gold wire running throughout the piece, which I modelled on the visible veins on my own chest (see gouache print on next slide). The wire element of the piece shows the shared design of the circulatory system and mycelial networks. Both of these structures give and sustain life. The gold wire winds through the piece, giving way to flora and fauna, symbolising the way in which mycelial networks give life to all plants and animals in nature. The circular structures on either side of the embroidered heart represent the mass of mammary glands found in the human female chest. They are positioned in relation to the heart and wire structure to give the overall visual impression of a female form. The radial symmetry and individual lobules of the mammary glands create a shape which is strikingly similar to that of the surrounding flowers. This shows another similar design shared by natural structures.

This piece combines visual representations of a mycelial network, circulatory system, mammary structures, flora and fauna into a single, cohesive design to exhibit shared designs or ‘blueprints’ within nature.