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!” Mushrooms are like little time/space travelers, living in this fleeting moment but able to become dormant through hard times until conditions are favorable for them to thrive again.

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.

Mushrooms and humans each share a precarious relationship with nature. Mushrooms need the correct balances of light, water, food, protection and temperature to be healthy and grow. But unlike mushrooms, we can’t suspend our life cycle until conditions improve.

The Inky Cap mushroom presents a beautiful illustration of the fragility of existence.

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