November 1, 2023 – January 3, 2024 • Mary Giles Gallery

Exhibiting Artists:
Julie Beeler, Lucero Paniagua Ortuño, and Kelly Wilson

Curated by Raíz Symbiotisk:
Pamela Vázquez and Emma Wood, Emerging Curators Institute 2022-23 fellows

 

JOIN US for a special FREE ART SPEAKS panel discussion with Raíz Symbiotisk and the artists, November 16, from 6 – 7:30 PM on Zoom.   Click HERE to register for this session!

 

Fungal lore and knowledge have been passed along since ancestral cultures. In recent years, fungi have been in the spotlight in the research and innovation of human well-being and environmental remediation with a growing realization of the existing interspecies entanglements. Raíz Symbiotisk’s curatorial motivation was to delve into this subject and research art practices in the intersection of science and technology, with a keen interest in the human, non-human, and post-human.

Archive II: Regeneration is the second part of the exhibition and public program that highlights local and national artists whose practices intersect fungi and textiles. Raíz Symbiotisk has been investigating the ways fungi are utilized in textiles both literally and metaphorically. Multiple symbolisms can be extracted from fungi, of life and death, of the boundaries of the human, and of new ways of thinking and collaborating. Fungi embody interconnected and supportive communities. Examples of these intersections include:

  • Sustainability innovation / symbiotic and parasitic relationships between fungi and natural fibers
  • Dye and pigment extracts
  • Fungal imagery, references, and history

Raíz Symbiotisk,  an artist-curator duo that teams up Emma Wood and Pamela Vázquez, have a symbiosis in their shared curiosity for fungi as seen from both an interdisciplinary artistic practice and from a research/archive perspective. This exhibition is the second of two exhibits in 2023, planned as part of their 2022-2023 Emerging Curators Institute’s Fellowship. 

Pamela Vázquez (she/her) is an art historian, curator, producer, and interdisciplinary artist from Mexico. Vázquez has collaborated in the production of public art events and in curatorial projects shown locally and outside the region. In 2022, she coordinated the Mexico in Minneapolis Folk Arts Residency through the Weisman Art Museum and the Arts and Cultural Affairs department of the City of Minneapolis. Since 2021, she has been part of the production team of the winter, on-ice art festival, Art Shanty Projects.

Emma Wood (they/them/hen) is a nonbinary, Swedish-American arts facilitator and interdisciplinary artist who works primarily in the intersections of mycelium and glass. Their work with ephemeral forms and bridging mediums explores temporality, identity, and connection through science and art. They were a 2021 Emerging Artist-in-Residence at Franconia Sculpture Park and an Emerging Artist-in-Residence at FOCI Minnesota Center for Glass Arts in 2021. Wood and a team of collaborators hosted an art shanty at Art Shanty Projects in 2022.

Textile Center is pleased to support the curatorial fellowship of Raíz Symbiotisk, in partnership with the Emerging Curator’s Institute.