CV Peterson

Mykitas Epoch – Whispered Histories Segment C
fungus (deceased) relief sculpture — bio art
28 x 60 x 3 in.

Dear Earth,

From the beginning of time fungus was here. As the passage of time slips by with the rotation of the Earth and the shining sun, so too will fungus continue to thrive and adapt; perhaps even as the Earth transforms into something that can no longer host us. “Mykitas Epoch – Whispered Histories” is the evolutionary tale of fungus, starting with imagery of the oldest land fossil, a fungus discovered in Scotland to be over 440 million-years-old, before winding through pictography of various fungi including multiple strains that have adapted to eat plastic. A history, a genesis of an organism that is everywhere, entwined with everything and yet still such a mystery to us.

My sculpture is comprised entirely out of a fungus that is a bio-alternative for Styrofoam, called MycoFoam. It was donated by Ecovative, a company in New York state that supplies IKEA and Dell with their packaging materials. I grew it in my studio. It flourished, rebelled, challenged my parenteral authority, and then was baked to become the piece that stands before you. A tellage of a long, and expansive history for the fungi who are yet to come.

© CV Peterson