Rochelle Morris

Rochelle Morris & Michelle Yuan Fitz-Gerald, ‘Afterlife’ 2024,
Coco coir, vermiculite, oyster mushroom spawn, biodegradable tape
40cm x 25cm x 162cm

‘Afterlife’ is a collaborative work that weaves our individual practices together via mycelial threads. The process involves pasteurising a substrate mix of vermiculite and coco coir, combining it with oyster mushroom spawn and packing it into a mold of Michelle’s body, created with biodegradable tape. The oyster mushroom’s network of hyphae (mycelium) then colonises the substrate and slowly hardens into a sculptural form with the aid of sunlight. Fungi is the grand recycler of the planet and the interface organisms between life and death. We both deal with themes of death and through our practices we are able to process, reenact and rewrite autobiographical events to reclaim internal space and facilitate self-healing. These notions of regeneration parallel the regenerative nature of mycelium which diligently breaks down and decomposes deceased organic materials and returns vital nutrients to the soil, enabling the ecosystem’s reproductive cycles to flourish. In a time where our extractive political and economic policies are creating ecological collapse at an accelerated rate, we need to act responsibly and collaborating with our fungal kin has potential for restoration.