Hymenophore

Installation view, Gallery of Contemporary Art project space, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, May 2022

The title of the exhibition, “Hymenophore” refers to the term in evolutionary biology that describes the reproductive structure of Funga. In a 3D rendered animation, titled “Lamellae,” there is a blossoming of a Pleurotus ostreatus (common name: blue oyster mushroom). She hovers, spins, and grows adjacent to a series of paintings. Lamellae, the reproductive organ, are labial in form. The paintings are icy blue, the color of the pandemic, landscapes of polystyrene, an endless expanse of hyperobjects. Jessica is offering a proposal of how to evolve and evokes the sacred feminine as a guide to navigate through our climate crisis.

Jessica Langley (b. 1981, USA) is a multimedia artist. She has exhibited her work internationally, and has been an artist-in-residence in numerous programs including Skaftfell Center of Visual Art in Iceland, Askeaton Contemporary Art in Ireland, the SPACES World Artist Program in Cleveland, and the Digital Painting Atelier at OCAD-U in Toronto. She was a recipient of the J. William Fulbright Scholarship for research in Iceland, and earned her MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2008. She is an amateur mycologist, and her artwork and writing have been published in the New York Mycological Society Newsletter, New American Paintings, NPR, Hyperallergic, and Temporary Art Review.