Wool and yarn.
22 x 25 cm
Ghost Mushrooms (Omphalotus nidiformis) as their name suggests appear at night as luminous glow in the dark shapes. They are poisonous, gilled, a creamy white colour with brown, black or purple shading up to 20 cm wide, funnel or trumpet shapes clustering together on dead pine stumps.
After I read an ABC article and saw photos of the mushrooms taken by Louisa Xu, I tracked her down and asked if I could use her photos to create some tapestries and she agreed. I have presented the mushrooms in their day time form using glow in the dark yarn to create some interesting effects in the dark.
Ghost Mushrooms 1 - Karyn Fearnside
Please note that purchased artworks must be collected from Quantum Brewery, Moruya, at 5:00 pm on 12 July 2026.
If you are unable to attend the collection time, please contact:
• Annette Kennewell (future@fungifeastival.com.au) for South Coast collection
• Kath Fries (kathfries@gmail.com) for Sydney collection
• Josie Cosgrove (dreampieces.info@gmail.com) for Canberra collectionKaryn Fearnside lives in the ACT on Ngunnawal Land. Her approach to developing a body of work is based on what was taught in the textile department of the then Canberra School of Art in the mid 1990’s. With so many techniques available she chooses the ones that best suit the idea. The overarching theme coming through Karyn’s work is mortality which may seem a little creepy but Karyn has come to embrace it, for instance she has explored the connection between her daughters and their deceased maternal grandmother (who died when Karyn was 10) through their shared red hair.
Photography plays a large part in Karyn’s creative practice, both to inform her work and create manipulated archival prints. Karyn also enjoys street photography. Her work often tackles uncomfortable ideas such as animals used for food, environmental degradation and climate change. The intricate patterns found in nature, like the skeletal shell of the tomatillo, the outside of a rockmelon and the knobbly shapes of the banksia seed pod, fascinate Karyn and inspire her to create for pleasure.
@karynfearnside