Mycelium Sky by Paul Summerfield Generator Gallery, Belconnen Arts Centre

Mycelium Sky is an exploration of fantastical interconnected worlds, botanical biomes and surreal dreamscapes.

One of the inspirations I had around this collection is from recent research into the role fungal filaments play in connecting the plant life of our planet; enabling communication and mutual support between different species. This body of work follows these fine interconnecting threads to imagine connections of mutual support and communication between our metropolitan environments and the rich biodiversity of our planet and other imagined spaces.

I think one of the most exciting aspects of working digitally is being able to build my own worlds and hint at larger narratives. I love creating digitally because it enables me to test ideas quickly and explore colours, textures, and elements. Plus, I get to work in the most amazing locations, such as tropical rainforests, sketching my ideas as they come to me from the surrounding environment.

Recently I have been exploring many new digital tools; such as NFTs, online art tools, drawing on tablets, drawing on my smartphone, and AI image generation. Some of these experiments appear in these works including “Lost Pinnacle”, “Photogenic Atolls” and “Exploring Digital Dream Gardens”. I don’t see these new technologies as competitive or a reduction of the artform but as interesting tools to discover new ideas, stories and ways to connect.