Lujain Saad D Alsehli

Untitled (DIY Mycology)

2021
Photograph, mixed media

Untitled (DIY Mycology)

2020
Micro-lens photograph

Untitled (DIY Mycology)

2020
Micro-lens photograph

Untitled (DIY Mycology)

2020
Micro-lens photograph

Untitled (DIY Mycology)

2021
Felt, gel mediums, plastic, beads, goat hair
7” x 6.5” x .5”

Untitled (DIY Mycology)

2020
Felt, gel mediums, liquid glue, ink
5” x 2.5” x 1”

Untitled (DIY Mycology)

2020
Felt, gel mediums, liquid glue, goat hair
3.5” x 3” x 1”

Artist Statement

Our surroundings and our bodies hold a commonality, an invisible connection making us  inseparable, like an umbilical cord; attached until the mother lets go, attached until we’re ready.  Fungi, the mother, containing us and part of us, shouldn’t be unseen. 

My current work is part of a series called DIY Mycology; it’s a deconstruction and  construction of fungi species to sculpt my own species. Repetition is the way nature builds its  shape, it’s only natural to replicate the mother to learn from fungi other ways to live life. It  slowly became a role model to me to live to the fullest extent as a species to repurpose myself to  be possessed by fungi, a possession that is spiritual, allowing the fungal body to reconnect with  its mother. It’s a way of translating the existence of fungi to fit into the current seemingly  ‘separate’ environment, confronting who we are as fungal bodies. 

I study various species and mix-n-match traits and compounds to make new ones then  sculpt it with felt, adhesives and found materials. Challenging the materials to act differently and mimicking what’s hidden and produced in nature. My making comes from a desire to turn ideas  into real and dimensional beings. Through replicating fungal imagery, I’m learning how fungi  lives. The scientific fascination wasn’t enough, I still seek to learn more about our ancestor. My  intent to replicate fungi is ritualistic in search for ways to understand and also try to translate my  findings through my work. It is a way to think fungus and live the fungus way.