A Brick in the Wall

Here the artist tells us about the creative process behind this project:

I was immediately struck by the fascinating topic of fungi, and how it was truly something that had never crossed my path before as a topic of conversation. The passion from the team at the Medical Research Council Centre for Medical Mycology was palpable, and I was honoured to help translate some of their work and energy into an accessible format for a wider audience – to then spark in them an equal interest in the subject.

I am an illustrator, poet, and installation artist based between London and East Anglia. The core of my work is about the everyday: it’s about people, and the hidden poetry of the world we all live in. I’m interested in the power of everyday actions and choices, and how the intricate threads of all of our lives intertwine.

I was particularly interested in, and honestly quite overwhelmed by, the human cost of fungal diseases across the world. For something that takes so many lives every year to be talked about so little – that’s truly shocking. I’m also fascinated by the CMM team themselves: how has working in this field changed them as people, has it changed how they relate to the world around them?

I wanted to simultaneously focus on this personal human toll and connection to this silent global health threat, whilst also taking inspiration from the visuals related to fungi and the CMM’s research to create my own visual language.”