The Mycological Muse: How Mushrooms Inspire Art & Fashion

Seana Gavin, artist

Mushrooms may seem like an odd muse to some, but the art world is booming with mycophiles, especially in recent years. Take the Somerset House’s 2020 exhibition "Mushrooms: The Art, Design, and Future of Fungi." The event featured a vast collection of fungi-influenced pieces across a variety of mediums. From watercolors and stamps to digital illustrations and textiles, it seems artists in all mediums are inspired by mushrooms.

But why are so many people drawn to fungi? Francesca Gavin, Somerset House's mushroom curator, believes it's because people can interpret them in so many ways. Gavin thinks that artists find mushrooms captivating for the same reason. Some are drawn to them for their weirdness, their genderlessness, or their relationship with decay. Others relate to a sense of childlike innocence or playfulness they evoke. The breadth of interpretation is as diverse as the Fungi Kingdom itself, making them an inclusive medium.

Gavin also created an Instagram account dedicated to mushroom art. The account, titled "The Art of Mushrooms," features hundreds of interpretations, both literal and metaphorical. Here you can find pieces that draw conceptual inspiration from mushrooms, as well as renderings in the style of botanical illustrations, in futurism, surrealism, pop culture, even as fun psychedelic gifs.

Art by Seana Gavin

Mushrooms may seem like an odd muse to some, but the art world is booming with mycophiles, especially in recent years. Take the Somerset House’s 2020 exhibition “Mushrooms: The Art, Design, and Future of Fungi”. The event featured a vast collection of fungi-influenced pieces across a variety of mediums. From watercolors and stamps to digital illustrations and textiles, it seems artists in all mediums are inspired by mushrooms.

It should come as no surprise that music is no stranger to mushrooms. From Timothy O'Leary's spoken word to falling down the rabbit hole in Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit," psychedelic mushrooms first began to appear en masse via 1960's counterculture rock and folk music.

"When the men on the chessboard get up / And tell you where to go / And you've just had some kind of mushroom / And your mind is moving low / Go ask Alice, I think she'll know."

And they've recently made a comeback, due in part to the rise in popularity of magic mushrooms. There’s even a music list curated by the Psilocybin Research center at John Hopkins you can access to enhance your psychedelic experience. But magic mushrooms are only part of the fungi equation. Take Nicki Minaj's performance at the BET Awards, where she entered atop a towering ominous Alice in Wonderland-like mushroom. Or SZA's latest video "Good Days,'' in which she dreams that she's a mushroom growing in the forest, dancing among the other fungi and spraying spores. Or even Katy Perry’s latest endeavor at Resorts World in Las Vegas, featuring fungi-inspired fashion, dancers dressed as fly agaric, and sets boasting 20-foot tall mushrooms.

Nicki Minaj (Photo Credit: Getty & BET)

Lyrically, the transformative nature of mushrooms often acts as inspiration, like in Bjork's "Virus," where she sings, "Like a mushroom on a tree trunk / as the protein transmutates / I knock on your skin and I am in." Or in Mudvayne's "Monolith," in which the singer explores the "Stoned Ape Theory" with lyrics like, "We are an ape with a symbiotic relationship to a mushroom / and that has given us self-reflection," referring to the belief that human brains evolved thanks to our consumption of psilocybin mushrooms.

@mycolyco on TikTok

Lyrically, the transformative nature of mushrooms often acts as inspiration, like in Bjork's "Virus," where she sings, "Like a mushroom on a tree trunk / As the protein transmutates / I knock on your skin and I am in." Or in Mudvayne's "Monolith," in which the singer explores the "Stoned Ape Theory" with lyrics like, "We are an ape with a symbiotic relationship to a mushroom / And that has given us self-reflection," referring to the belief that human brains evolved thanks to our consumption of psilocybin mushrooms.

But the fact that they're living beings is often what inspires the artist. MycoLyco, a musician out of Asheville, North Carolina is one of a small handful of artists harnessing unique mushroom frequencies to create "myco waves." Currently boasting more than 650K TikTok followers, he has created a vast collection of videos in which he translates mushroom biorhythms into sound. Using what he calls a "biodata sonification module" that lets mushrooms play a synth, he's able to harness the cellular activity, translating its bioelectrical voltage into some novel tunes.

Interdisciplinary bio-artist, Tosca Teran, has taken her musical vision in a more immersive direction. Her latest project "Mycorrhizal Rhythm Machine" acts as a living sound pod that turns biodata into music. Electrodes are placed within living mycelium, which sends the biodata into modules that detect micro-fluctuations in conductivity and translate this information into the human audio spectrum. People sitting within the pod are treated to ambient sounds that are both soothing and otherworldly.

@mycolyco on TikTok

And singers aren’t the only people incorporating mushrooms into their acts. These days, mushrooms are the ones making the music. MycoLyco, a musician out of Asheville, North Carolina is one of a small handful of artists harnessing unique mushroom frequencies to create "myco waves." Currently boasting more than 650K TikTok followers, he has created a vast collection of videos in which he translates mushroom biorhythms into sound. Using what he calls a "biodata sonification module" that lets mushrooms play a synth, he's able to harness the cellular activity, translating its bioelectrical voltage into some novel tunes.

It's impossible to talk about the influence of mushrooms in music without mentioning the innovative work of American composer John Cage. Considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century, he is best known for his experimental contributions to music. Most notably, his composition 4'33 where Cage sat at his piano in silence for 4 minutes and 33 seconds and let the ambient sounds of the concert hall provide a sort of improvised and ephemeral auditory experience.

A lesser-known aspect of John Cage is his fascination with mushrooms. He was an avid forager and considered himself an amateur mushroom hunter, though many would argue he was anything but amateur. Cage's love of mushrooms was the driving force that led him to translate haikus by seventeenth-century poet Matsuo Basho. Knowing that haikus relate to the seasons, he gathered that there must be one about mushrooms, and he was right. Translating these haikus inspired his groundbreaking album, "Indeterminacy."

In the piece, Cage reads a series of random short stories detailing life’s simple pleasures (including mushrooms) aloud, while his longtime collaborator, David Tutor, improvises on the piano in another room. In 1972, John Cage encapsulated his mycophilia in "The Mushroom Book" will a vast collection of photos, illustrations, poetry, and anecdotes, an assemblage that brings Cage's long-standing relationship with mushrooms to life.

John Cage and Lois Long at Hollander Workshop, spring 1972 (Photo Credit: John Klosky)

It's impossible to talk about the influence of mushrooms in the arts without mentioning the innovative work of American composer John Cage. Considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century, he is best known for his experimental contributions to music. Most notably, his composition 4'33 where Cage sat at his piano in silence for 4 minutes and 33 seconds and let the ambient sounds of the concert hall provide a sort of improvised and ephemeral auditory experience.

John Cage and Lois Long at Hollander Workshop, spring 1972; John Klosky

Though slime molds aren’t actually fungi, they are often perceived as mushrooms in art and fashion. (Photo Credit: Theresa Shubert, artist)

In her work, artist Theresa Schubert treats fungi as a true collaborator and co-creator. Her immersive installation "Bodymetries" allows visitors to interact with a computer simulation of the acellular slime mold Physarum polycephalum. Within a generative projection environment, the slime mold becomes an interactive application for body morphology.

And the project isn't simply body art—it explores the possibilities of mapping the human body based on the behavior of the spatially extended disorganized single-cell organism Physarum polycephalum. "Skin is the largest perceptual organ of our body, which marks the frontier between the inner and the outer world," explains Shubert. "It is more than a mere surface, but also an interface that communicates as well as an internal memory for environmental influences over time."

Though slime molds aren’t actually fungi, they are often perceived as mushrooms in art and fashion. (Photo credit: Theresa Shubert)

In her work, artist Theresa Schubert treats fungi as a true collaborator and co-creator.Her immersive installation "Bodymetries" allows visitors to interact with a computer simulation of the acellular slime mold Physarum polycephalum. Within a generative projection environment, the slime mold becomes an interactive application for body morphology.

Sometimes the intent of immersive art is to cause both awe and tension. Originally trained as a scientist with a doctorate in biology, artist Carsten Höller holds a deep and personal fascination with fungi. In addition to their importance in ecological biodiversity, he believes that mushrooms open our minds to unpredictable effects and do so by living and reproducing in mostly incomprehensible ways.

In his exhibition "Mushroom Mathematics," participants are confronted by a series of enigmas, including giant hybrid mushrooms that challenge rationality and the absurd. Through this work, Höller hopes to conjure up a combination of geometry and magic, code and invention, rationality and the absurd, and allow participants to explore new methods of understanding.

FoldHaus Art Collective (Photo Credit: Ron Blunt)

Carsten Höller, artist

But creation can also happen from within. Take artist and Ayatana's Biophilium founder, Alexis Williams, who uses immersive art to create a deeper understanding of the human + mycology relationship. In one of her programs, Williams taps into the visceral by using the act of exploring the forest as a pilgrimage. Participants are invited to step off the path and experience making decisions with intuition and their senses, using an arsenal of art and science tools to see, smell and taste the forest from new perspectives.

By becoming one with the subject matter, each artist is confronted with their place in the ecosystem. In turn, they symbiotically unveil truths about biology and their place within it. Williams's hope as a mycological artist is that her program will simultaneously decrease mycophobia while increasing the acceptance and support of new mycological innovations into society. She even wrote a deeply moving art book called "The Book of Spores" which will launch sometime in late 2022.

Carsten Höller

But creation can also happen from within. Take artist and Ayatana founder, Alexis Williams, who uses immersive art to create a deeper understanding of the human + mycology relationship. In one of her programs, Williams taps into the visceral by using the act of exploring the forest as a pilgrimage. Participants are invited to step off the path and experience making decisions with intuition and their senses, using an arsenal of art and science tools to see, smell and taste the forest from new perspectives. By becoming one with the subject matter, each artist is confronted with their place in the ecosystem.

Given the dynamic, uncontrolled nature of fungi, sculpture lends itself beautifully to its unpredictable form and function. This can be seen in work by artist Xiaojing Yahn, who takes her inspiration from the underappreciated growth cycle of mushrooms. She began working with mushrooms in 2014, and after much experimentation, she realized she could form mycelium into controlled shapes by creating wood chip armatures that the fungus would engulf and eat.

The resulting texture approximates that of papier-mâché. In her latest project, her "Lingzhi girls" sculpture is alive, with fungi orchestrating the creative process. To Yahn, it is an ever-evolving metaphor for adaptation, self-organization, self-healing, and regeneration. According to the artist, the idea was to let the mycelium create its own transformative sculpture. "The beginning of this hybrid science, art, idiosyncratic, secular experiment satisfies me. I am no longer in control, nature is. For me it's important that each side of this equation has a chance to shine."

Unlike most artists that find beauty in the mushroom fruiting body, visual artist Claudia Fontes finds inspiration in the spores. Her 2016 collection of spore-inspired ceramic sculptures hold each other tightly as they are transformed into fungus-like growths. "An illuminating feeling that comes with being in a long-term relationship is the realization that you can no longer tell where you stop and the other person starts," writes Bill Rogers. "After a while of living in a shared system, it gets difficult to tell which ideas and experiences are wholly your own and which are shared, if not appropriated, from your partner.

Xiaojing Yahn, artist

Given the dynamic, uncontrolled nature of fungi, sculpture lends itself beautifully to its unpredictable form and function. This can be seen in work byartist Xiaojing Yahn, who takes her inspiration from the underappreciated growth cycle of mushrooms. She began working with mushrooms in 2014, and after much experimentation, she realized she could form mycelium into controlled shapes by creating wood chip armatures that the fungus would engulf and eat. The resulting texture approximates that of papier-mâché. In her latest project, her "Lingzhi girls" sculpture is alive, with fungi orchestrating the creative process.

Xiaojing Yahn

Xiaojing Yahn

Claudia Fontes, artist

By altering the bodies of her subjects, Fontes breaks down barriers and shows us that we are all interconnected – plant and animal, human and ecosystem. Her work also explores the poetic space and alternative modes of perception of culture, nature, history, and society that emerge from processes of decolonization, be they personal, interpersonal, or social.

The processes of loss, decay, and regeneration are also central to the mushroom, which can be seen in works by artist Stephanie Kilgast. At the core of her work is impending doom related to climate change, energy crisis, pollution, and human destruction contrasted by nature's resilience. Her work has a cheerful post-apocalyptic feel to it, a reassuring reminder that nature can grow back if we only let it.

In 2019, Kilgast and fellow artist, Miles Johnston, created a 12-piece sculpture series focusing on the beauty found in decomposition. Sorrowful women can be seen holding decaying beings in their arms, adorned in an array of rainbow hues with fungus-like growths on their bodies.

Claudia Fontes

Claudia Fontes

By altering the bodies of her subjects, Fontes breaks down barriers and shows us that we are all interconnected – plant and animal, human and ecosystem. Her work also explores the poetic space and alternative modes of perception of culture, nature, history, and society that emerge from processes of decolonization, be they personal, interpersonal, or social.

(Left to right) Tony Ward; Paul Smith; Raul Mishra; A Humming Way

But the real fashion "mushroom boom" began to take shape more recently with the likes of Tony Ward's 2019 "forest undergrowth" collection, and Iris Van Herpen's 2021 "fungal networks" collection. Fast forward a year, and it felt as if every other collection was paying homage to the humble mushroom, with Refinery 29's Frances Sola-Santiago even declaring, "Fashion is high on mushrooms right now."

Kristel Peters, designer

But the real fashion "mushroom boom" began to take shape more recently with the likes of Tony Ward's 2019 "forest undergrowth" collection, and Iris Van Herpen's 2021 "fungal networks" collection. Fast forward a year, and it feels as though every other collection is paying homage to the humble mushroom, with Refinery 29's Frances Sola-Santiago even declaring, "Fashion is high on mushrooms right now."

But not all fashionable fungi inspiration is metaphorical. Shoe designer, Kristel Peters, takes literal inspiration from mushrooms, using mycelium to grow shoes (using it for both scaffolding and texture). Her project "Growing Shoes" shows how mycelium can be shaped into solid and hollow models. Solid shapes function as heels, platforms, and insoles of the shoe using a variety of waste streams such as coffee grounds and sawdust as substrates.

The hollow shapes are grown pure in bottles or on fibers such as hemp and psyllium to achieve strength and structures. She hopes to challenge the status quo and challenge the shoe wear industry that currently produces more than 21 billion pairs of shoes each year by creating a circular, zero-waste, high fashion alternative to the highly toxic and wasteful industry.

Kristel Peters, designer

Aneila Hoitink, designer

And designers aren't the only . Textile makers have also been a significant driving force. Dubbed "myco garments" by some in the fashion industry, mushroom leather has made a significant splash, first making it onto the runway via Stella McCartney in early 2021, through her partnership with Bolt Threads. Other brands, like Hermès, Kering, and Adidas soon followed. And it's no surprise. Mushroom mycelium has proven itself to be durable, versatile, and renewable when used in fashion and accessories (like shoes and handbags) and has become a highly desirable vegan alternative to traditional leather.

While not the only player in mycelium leather, Bolt Threads is one of the brands leading the mycelium textile movement. Their creation, called "Mylo," looks and feels identical to leather but is made from a type of shelf fungus. Marilla Perkins, Bolt Threads Senior Director of Marketing, says a big advantage of making a leather-like material from mycelium is that it doesn't involve animal agriculture. Not only is this great for vegetarians but also for conserving resources and time. Mylo mycelium can be grown within a matter of days, unlike raising livestock which takes years, is resource-intensive, and often contributes to greenhouse gas emissions.

Aneila Hoitink

And designers aren't the only players. Textile makers have also been a significant driving force. Dubbed "myco garments" by some in the fashion industry, mushroom leather has made a significant splash, first making it onto the runway via Stella McCartney in early 2021, through her partnership with Bolt Threads. Other brands, like Hermès, Kering, and Adidas soon followed. And it's no surprise. Mushroom mycelium has proven itself to be durable, versatile, and renewable when used in fashion and accessories (like shoes and handbags) and has become a highly desirable vegan alternative to traditional leather.

While Mylo and Mycotex are textiles that are no longer living, Carol Padberg's interspecies textiles have living mushrooms growing on them. An interdisciplinary artist with a foundation in painting, Padberg creates wearable mushroom textiles by weaving naturally dyed wool and then handing it over to oyster mycelium to continue the process. Padberg says that the mushrooms are active participants in creating the textiles, and was inspired to create living garments to help humans understand that we are not biologically individual. "We're holobionts made up of communities of bacteria, fungi, and other types of organisms that live within us and make us who we are," she explains. "It is believed that we have more fungi, bacteria, and viruses within us than actual human cells."

But this is only the beginning of myco-inspired style. As mycelium continues to demonstrate its effectiveness as a durable, renewable, textile, it's only a matter of time before mushroom materials are a staple on the runway.

Carol Padberg, Artist

While Mylo and Mycotex are textiles that are no longer living, Carol Padberg's interspecies textiles have living mushrooms growing on them. An interdisciplinary artist with a foundation in painting, Padberg creates wearable mushroom textiles by weaving naturally dyed wool and then handing it over to oyster mycelium to continue the process.

Carol Padberg