Story behind the art of Asuka Hishiki

Curious Allies: Mutualism in Fungi, Parasites, and Carnivores

The Fifth New York Botanical Garden Triennial

Mold-covered Buddha’s Hand (Turezure no kusa )

Penicillium, Citrus medica var. sarcodactylis

Mold happens. 

I didn’t intend for it to grow, but it happened. It is not consistent - if I expect it to emerge, it most certainly won’t!

We modern human beings have become so clean that even a tiny bit of mold is not allowed to be in our households. Yet, mold plays a very important role in our ecosystem. We just simply do not know a lot about it. Also, it’s floating everywhere. Without invitation, it will show up in our surroundings anyway, and as I noted, unexpectedly. 

l am a keeper. On my desk, on the shelves, or in the corner of the kitchen in our house, bits of vegetables and plants are saved and sit quietly. They are potential sitters for my next painting. Most likely, they will end up becoming dried, brown, shrunken, and moldy. There are more, many more natural wonders than I can catch up with portraying. My partner gave up on the issue a long time ago. First, he would try to point out something forgotten, which was lying on the… everywhere in our house. Or he would offer to clean it into a trash bin. These abundant attempts were fruitless. He has completely accepted my habit; furthermore, he sometimes comes home with found natural treasures, like a dead, dried up baby lizard. 

Admiring this beauty is one thing, but painting it is another story. Mold is naturally a goner – it doesn’t last long. Okay, that is misleading, it will not stay in the same state for long. It moves very quickly, changing and growing every minute. No time to lose. I quickly calculated and made a map - meaning, I foresaw how the mold spreads and shifts its shape and color as time goes by. I decided where to start, what part comes next, and how much to leave blank at each point.

This is not an unusual process for me, I do it all the time with many subjects I am portraying; however, I must say that this was an extreme case in every way. 

Two things stood out. One was the smell. Mold has a unique, distinctive scent. It is a rather sweet aroma, but also smells slightly toxic. Another thing was being alert not to inhale any mold spores while painting. The Buddha’s hand citrus was in my lasagna glass dish covered with museum quality acrylic. So it was sealed but also observable through transparent glass and acrylic. I wore three layered masks in the studio as well. Still the hint of the toxic sweet smell reached my nostrils. Hopefully, none of the spores found their way into my system.

Maybe, the poisonous quality intrigued my curiosity, too. Up close, the mold looked like a healthy bushy forest. For me, for any human being, it is a poisonous villain, but in the big picture, it could be a hero, saving the earth. Maybe… 

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Read more about this artist's work: 26th Annual