Mushroom Friends #4 - Phyllis Ma

Mushrooms & Friends 4 features still lifes of Ganoderma mushrooms cultivated by the artist Phyllis Ma. Ganoderma, a type of fungus that parasitizes hardwood trees, is a popular medicinal mushroom in East Asia. For this project, the specimens were grown in a small home lab, where some formed marshmallow-tipped antlers, and others, fan-like conks with porous undersides. In addition to photography, this issue includes a short essay tracing the cultural history of Ganoderma in China — from medieval Daoism to the contemporary art of mushroom bonsai.