Ithell Colquhoun, Gorgon (1946),oil on board
This painting by surrealist artist Ithell Colquhoun was a catalyst for my fungus project.
The intense mood and otherworldly, mushroomy organic forms led me to think about worldbuilding and making some kind of fungal planet.
Colquhoun uses oil painting techniques that form fluid, branching structures that look more like they had grew onto the painting rather than being painted on. The ambiguity of the shifting, cavernous form and the organisms contained in it conjures thoughts of alien life.
This incredible painting is on display in Arusha Gallery on Dundas Street.