Wednesday Wonder: From Mushrooms, Art

I strive to create poetic moments that examine

our human relationship to the natural world.

~ Kate Casanova, Artist Statement

Award-winning Kate Casanova describes in today's accompanying video how she implants mushroom spores in chairs to produce conceptual artworks that engage our senses, challenge our visual vocabularies, and test our perceptions and limits of comfort. A University of Minnesota graduate student (she expects to obtain her master's in fine art this year), Casanova explores our culture's ideas about "unnerving" beauty and how those ideas influence our relationships with the natural world. 

See images of Casanova oddly beautiful Victorian Mushroom Chair (2011) with pink oyster mushrooms, and her 60's Mushroom Chair (2011), with blue oyster mushrooms. Her choice of mushrooms for each chair is deliberate and brilliant. Spend some time browsing images in her online portfolio. Her Floating World pieces, comprising gorgeous hand-cut paper collages, are captivating.

(My thanks to PBS Newshour and MN Original for the link to the excellent profile.)

Also see Casanova's 6:22-minute Ornament (2011).