Interlaced

Art and fungi come together in an unexpected collaboration.

This project brings together two artists, Molly and Valdene, whose small-scale artworks reflect their distinct creative practices. Molly works with lace textiles, exploring how space holds equal weight with pattern and structure. Valdene incorporates natural materials such as dirt, ground rock and charcoal from specific locations, focusing on the traces and memory found in tracks and pathways.

Both artists share a fascinated with fungi - neither a plant or an animal, but a kingdom of unique organisms that colonise almost all spaces, and inhabit all living organisms. Most fungi live as mycelium, in networks that form tracks and create pathways that have lacelike structures. 

Through a series of controlled grow trials, the artists invite fungi to collaborate in the creation of their artworks. Pieces are placed in growing media impregnated with fungal spawn, with temperature and moisture carefully managed to encourage mycelium growth.

Interlaced is an art project that builds on science, aesthetics and lived experience. It celebrates fungi’s unique, often unseen, unrecognised presence and acknowledges its importance in the ongoing health of dryland environments.

Artist statements 

Valdene Diprose examines how personal and collective memories manifest in objects and places over time. Often, she works as a facilitator, causing materials and elements found in the natural world to impact upon each other. Valdene’s practice includes sculpture, drawing and painting; and is heavily informed by traditional printmaking processes.

Molly Ryan is a creative practitioner, researcher, and educator focused on understanding people's relationships with clothing textiles through practice-based research. A commitment to preserving the natural environment and reducing waste governs her creative and entrepreneurial practices. Molly explores the creative potential of materials through experimental and innovative processes. 

The Interlaced project is supported by the Western Australian Government, acting through the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries (DLGSC) Culture and Arts (WA). This research project has been realised with substantial ongoing contributions from Diego Oliveira of The FunGuy Mushrooms. The artists are very grateful for his enthusiastic mentorship and generous donation of materials.