Tiffany Ho

My sustained investigation is about the different relationships that fungi share with other living organisms. Fungi are often viewed upon in a negative light but I wanted to try and depict the positive aspects of fungi and the special roles they play in the world.

When I first started my investigation, I focused on the relationships fungi have in nature, for example how fungi prevent colony collapse disorder in bees. As I progressed, it expanded to include how fungi have the potential to solve pressing human problems such as breaking down plastic and helping trees capture carbon to reduce climate change. Before making my pieces, I researched the ideas I chose to focus on and sketched images that related to the new information I learned. Additionally, the ideas for my works were usually built upon the pieces that came before them. For example, Stretched Decay, which focused on the process of decomposition, was inspired by Heart of the Forest, which was about how fungi keep forests alive. Throughout my works, I was inspired by the patterns I saw in fungi, leaves, and other organisms around me. I added pops of color to draw attention to how the world is filled with diversity beyond what we see.