Natasha Wodzynski's project

Inspiration for this project began with my interest in accidentally or deliberately occurring natural patterns and structures. The growth of fungi is one such pattern that, in its many forms grows and spreads, changing form, structure, texture and colour, as it does. Taking the theme of Inside/Outside into account, and with my interest in natural patterns, I chose to look at the growth of fungi as it spreads from the inside to the outside of its occupied host. It clings to that host for life and lives off it, spreading out and over it.

Within this project I hope to capture the parasitic nature of fungi and its behaviour of clinging onto its host and spreading its life across the inside and bursting out of the surface. Visual imagery was collected through picking mushrooms and growing mold in Petri dishes and then exploring the patterns and textures seen in these through drawing. Through research into fungi I came across an artist called Chris Drury who uses mushroom spore prints in his work. Making a spore print involves leaving a mushroom on a piece of paper over night with a lid over the top. The mushrooms release their spores on the paper leaving a beautiful delicate drawing of the linear underside of the mushroom.

I adopted this method to create some beautiful ghostly drawings from which I have developed fabric ideas and colour schemes.Techniques such as printing with puff, flock and heat transfer paper are all employed and then on top of this I have manipulated fabrics to create folds, pleats and patterns within the fabric to replicate the patterns and textures found in my research and to capture the clinging and spreading behaviour of fungi.