Mycelium as Muse

Mycelium as Muse

California, USA

by Salma Arastu

 

Editor’s note: All photos are by the artist, unless noted. 

 

I. Hidden and Mysterious

As an artist, my paintings are lyrical and spiritual, layered and flowing. As an ecoartist, I search for visual narratives that reveal unity in diversity, hope and connection, and a celebration of earth and women. A common thread explores the oneness of all life. My process lends itself to work in series; new series seamlessly evolve from previous ones.

The most current series, Soil and Soul, explores the life of mycelia, the great coordinating, underground connection system found in forests. The series combines contemporary ecological and social issues with one artist’s investigations of science, spirituality, and the humanities. Here, mycelial patterns are mixed with Arabic calligraphy to examine and express the deep interconnectedness of all forms of life.

Contemporary forest ecology studies have discovered that mycelium acts like connective tissue, knitting together forest ecosystems. Like an underground highway, it carries nutrients—nitrogen, carbon, and phosphorus—to plant roots, nurturing collective growth. Contributions don’t stop there. Plants with fungal allies are proven to be more resilient against infestation and disease. Mycelium even transmits messages among plants through a language of chemical signals. The invisible network of mushroom mycelium is a dynamic, rooted system that builds and sustains vast, reciprocal interconnections.

I am working to combine my examination of mycelial knowledge with my lifelong study of spirituality. For example, the behavior of mycelia suggests certain verses from the Quran that make charity obligatory. My aesthetic history includes using Arabic script—which loops and connects one letter to another in a continuous line—to the architectural, systemic connectivity of fungi or roots.

Soil and Soul thus creates a visual discourse that bridges science, spirituality, diversity, diaspora, and language. The audience is asked to consider the common good, sustainability, and collective healing. By drawing from science and spirituality, it has the potential to engage viewers on multiple levels of emotion, mystery, rationality, curiosity, and even devotion.

As an artist, I respond to these concepts via large calligraphic paintings in which brushwork builds to produce free-flowing abstractions. The lyrical lines begin movement through inspiration and instinct, gradually forming relationships to each other and with Arabic calligraphy, Islamic patterns, and natural formative structures such as the hyphae (the network of tubular filaments of the fungi).

In this most recent work, the hidden and the mysterious, what’s underground and what’s in the Spirit, dance together in visible, dynamic movements of color, texture, and more. These structures become visible and known via my paintings. They call for human individual participation in this most elemental of systems, for us to realize our true nature and overcome common challenges.

 

 

II. Feeling the Call

 “If we are in rhythm with nature, we are in rhythm with ourselves.” 
—Micah Hobbes Frazier, somatic healer and facilitator²

Texts about ecological consciousness and the interconnectedness of all species holds my attention and invites me to delve deeper.

I have immersed myself in seeking remedies to save our planet and its ecosystems. I found my muse in the underground network of mycelia that is regenerating, activating, and healing the damaged state of our environment, and invisible tiny benefactors, microbes, who are an integral and essential part of the web of life.

Thematically, the interconnectedness among diverse human cultures and religions has been a cornerstone of my work. Building on previous projects, mycelia charts new territory in the realm of these life-giving networks under our feet. I am discovering ancient stories of connection and resilience through mycorrhizal pathways. As white filaments can graft or connect diverse elements, they inspire me to rethink our relationship and connection to the natural world.

In her book, The Flowering Wand, Sophie Strand writes, “Fungi are the original angels. Root messengers. Weavers. Communicators. They sew soil to plants, trees to trees. They hold ecosystems together like conversations.”³

Mycelium models the collective ability to channel and receive nutrients where needed, protect against those who harm social progress, and expand roots into necessary sites of growth. The network process also fosters intergenerational relationships in which the ancient wisdom residing in older trees is shared with younger trees. Mycelium is a fully open-ended and indeterminate dynamic structure that can continually respond to changing demands. The metaphor of mycelium in a time of endangered social justice asks that we center deep connection, ancestral wisdom, trust, and shared resourcing. Mycelia are powerful teachers when it comes to community.

 

III. Miracles Under Our Feet

“Mycelium is about building community, networking, nourishing the world around you.”⁴
—Andy Bass, entrepreneur and molecular biologist

Personally and spiritually, within my interfaith and Muslim communities, my work also seeks to connect the spirit of Islamic values to the pressing issues of our time. I have located verses in the Quran, for example, which directly prohibit humans from engaging in corruption and wastefulness. Some of my paintings have disrupted the commonly held Judeo-Christian-Muslim monotheistic prioritization of humans above all else.

The energy, movement, and purpose of these spreading fungi networks suit my work. The lyrical line, which has been a staple of my art practice for many years, has found a new area of expression and converges with the lines that represent Nature’s mycelial and microbial flow. 

For the first time, I am adding scientific investigation and research to a project. Through my explorations in these life-giving networks under our feet, creating visual images of these connections and collaborations satisfies my soul, I seek to bring humanity together with lessons learned from nature.

I am playing with new methods and materials.  For example, to avoid plastics-based materials such as acrylic paint, I created my own natural orange hue by soaking steel wool in vinegar for a few days then applying the rust to paper. I am also using charcoal, jute twine, pastels, and exploring digital media by printing images on large papers. Recently, as my work revolves around fungi, mushrooms ,and mycelium, I photograph ground roots and manipulate layers in Photoshop to make the entanglement as dense and deep as I imagine it, based on the poetic language of my readings.

After going through the hardships of the COVID-19 Pandemic and facing realities of climate change, I am exploring miracles happening right under our feet.

 

 

ENDNOTES

1. “About,” Creative Growth, accessed September 4, 2025, https://creativegrowth.org/about.
2. “Peter Voulkos: Echoes of the Japanese Aesthetic,” American Museum of Ceramic Art, accessed September 4, 2025, https://www.amoca.org/past-exhibitions/peter-voulkos-echoes-of-the-japanese-aesthetic/#:~:text=Voulkos%20led%20the%20charge%20in,for%20sculptural%20works%20of%20art.
3. “History,” Arts in Corrections, accessed September 4, 2025, https://artsincorrections.org/history.
4. “Home,” William James Association, accessed September 4, 2025, https://williamjamesassociation.org/.

WEAD MAGAZINE ISSUE No. 14, PLACE SETTING
Published December 2025