Christina McLachlan "Turkey Tail Mushroom"

Christina McLachlan (WA)

Turkey Tail Mushroom
acrylic on round canvas
10" diameter
ready to hang

This painting of a Turkeytail mushroom is my way of documenting the first time I became enamored with fungii. It was just quietly doing it's thing, slowly breaking down a giant of a fallen tree in the woods and I was instantly fascinated by it's velvet earth tones and broken spiral pattern. Some kind of primal memory in my brain remembered a spiritual connection with mushrooms from that day on. When I later learned that Turkeytail has medicinal properties, I was led to explore the relationship between the specific aesthetics of natural beings and how they signal our instincts for spotting helpful flora and fungi in the wild.

The fruiting body of Turkeytail (trametes versicolor) contains polysaccharides that help to modulate inflammation, regulate our gut microbiome and strengthen the immune system. Turkeytail can be found in forest ecosystems throughout the world.

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