Resilience In Community

When I received the invitation to make artwork for the Outdoor Sculpture Invitational 2025, Artists in Dialogue with the Landscape at Adkins Arboretum, I was so happy to have been invited, but I was also worried. Worried that I was tapped out. Worried that with all the worry I had about the world I wouldn’t be able to get into that state where I quiet myself to have that dialogue with the land. But doing these installations are my heart’s work and there was no way I could pass up such a wonderful opportunity, so I said yes and thank you so much.

At the time when I had to submit my proposal I was thinking about doing something about cocooning because that’s how I was feeling- feeling super vulnerable and scared and wanted to wrap myself up away from the damage being done around us. But then I went to a meeting in the collective I am in and I got into conversation with one of the artists and she told me how important community is. It was a conversation that really stayed with me. So much so that I went home and wrote up my proposal about wanting to create an installation about the mycorrhizal network and that it’s in community where we find resilience.

In my studio I created the white web inspired by the threadlike mycelium. The site I had chosen has a stump and the body of the trunk on the ground nearby. I actually used this site the last time I did an installation at Adkins, so I was very familiar with it. I imagined the web I made spreading out down the trunk with strands reaching out and connecting to the stump as well as to nearby trees. I wanted to use natural materials found at the site to create other pathways from the trunk to the other trees as well, and for that I used sticks that were strewn around the site. I felt like I was making riverbeds of sticks flowing from the trunk to the other fallen logs and upright trees. I really enjoyed working on that part. It was very meditative.

On the tree stump I gathered more sticks and made a swirl pattern. This is reminiscent of the ephemeral nature “doodles”, which I also sometimes call nature meditations, that I leave around on my dog walks and hikes. It is one of my favorite grounding practices that I do. Honestly I have not been doing it very much lately. I need to.

When I was working on this, two tiny little toads jumped out at me. I love that my outdoor creations become part of the living landscape.

I sewed a few crocheted bits that I had found at estate sales into the webbing. I wanted to reference to the craftmanship of nature itself. The natural world is constantly making and remaking itself in such beautiful and intricate ways. How are we not in awe of that?

Artist Statement:

Out of sight and underground, extensive threadlike networks of fungal organisms connect the forest. Trees communicate and share resources through this mycorrhizal network.This network exemplifies one of the great lessons of ecology- that organisms are all interconnected and interdependent. In ecosystems, a diverse web of interconnected species is more resilient to change. This installation brings this lesson above ground to remind us that we, just like the trees in a forest, are not separate beings, but living in community with the purpose of helping one another. We are all connected.

I took many photos when the installation was complete, which can be viewed here.

I just had to share a before and after side by side. You can see already how the installation changes as the season progresses. Thankful for the opportunity to go into the woods and make strange and beautiful things.

When I had first installed this piece, I spoke to the curators about how at the beginning of the year I had been feeling so unmoored by everything and hadn’t been sure if I could create and Mary said to me, but this is exactly the time that artists need to create. When I was creating on site, a woman passed by and said, “Oh! An ode to mycelium!” I love that. I felt seen. I also spoke to a group of tween girl scouts and taught them about the underground fungal network that allows trees and plants to communicate. Art is such a wonderful way to reach people and hopefully help them to see things in a different way.

Last photo to share is a fun one. Before I brought the wire sculpture to Adkins, my daughter and I went out and took photos of me holding my web. There are more from our photo shoot on my Instagram.

Outdoor Sculpture Invitational 2025, Artists in Dialogue with the Landscape at Adkins Arboretum. On view June 1 through September 30, 2025. This is the 12^th biennial exhibition sponsored by the Arboretum. The artist reception and sculpture walk will take place on June 21, 2-4 pm. I saw all the artwork along the trail and it’s really a wonderful exhibit in the woods. If you’re on your way to the ocean this summer and willing to go a little bit off the path and stretch your legs in the woods, definitely a lovely stop.