Deliquesce

“Fungi are the only organism with the biological aptitude to link death with life.”

Sylvia Tilley, Crewmember USS Starship Discovery

I heard this sentence while watching Star Trek Discovery, and I thought, “of course!” That’s why mushrooms are so compelling to me. They are like little time/space travelers, living in this moment but also able to become dormant as needed until they can be revived for their next mission.

I learned the word Deliquesce when I looked up a little mushroom I discovered in a field near my home. The mushroom started as a white bulb in the morning, developed a drippy black skirt by midday, and collapsed into a smudgy heap by afternoon. The word means liquify or melt which is what the Inky Cap mushroom does.

This mushroom’s brief life-story describes our own precarious relationship with nature: Mushrooms can only thrive and propagate when the correct balance of light, water, food and temperature is present for them to reproduce. But unlike mushrooms, we can’t wait in suspended animation until conditions improve.

The Inky Cap’s life cycle is a beautiful (drippy) reminder to appreciate our fragile planet and ephemeral existence.

Deliquesce is 12″ x 36″ oil on cradled birch. It is available in my studio.