Exhibit Description
fruiting body
“the spore-producing organ of a fungus, often seen as a mushroom or toadstool.”
Oxford Languages
fungus
“ organisms that survive by decomposing and absorbing nutrients in organic material such as soil or dead organisms.”
National Geographic
“…there is simply no mode of empathy that can replicate the daily strain of knowing that as a black person you can be killed for simply being black…”
Claudia Rankine, “The Conditions of Black Life is One of Mourning”
Fruiting bodies is a series of three-dimensional, free-form, soft sculptures meticulously hand-crocheted by the artist. The yarn used in this collection is thoughtfully sourced from local farmers, skilled dyers, dedicated crafters, and second-hand stores in both North Carolina and Maine.
This work serves as an invitation to momentarily escape the hierarchical, eurocentric, patriarchal, heteronormative, capitalistic nightmare-scape that defines 2023 america. It beckons us to embrace softness and contemplate what might emerge from the dregs, detritus, death, and other byproducts of our contemporary society.
“the spore-producing organ of a fungus, often seen as a mushroom or toadstool.”
Oxford Languages
fungus
“ organisms that survive by decomposing and absorbing nutrients in organic material such as soil or dead organisms.”
National Geographic
“…there is simply no mode of empathy that can replicate the daily strain of knowing that as a black person you can be killed for simply being black…”
Claudia Rankine, “The Conditions of Black Life is One of Mourning”
Fruiting bodies is a series of three-dimensional, free-form, soft sculptures meticulously hand-crocheted by the artist. The yarn used in this collection is thoughtfully sourced from local farmers, skilled dyers, dedicated crafters, and second-hand stores in both North Carolina and Maine.
This work serves as an invitation to momentarily escape the hierarchical, eurocentric, patriarchal, heteronormative, capitalistic nightmare-scape that defines 2023 america. It beckons us to embrace softness and contemplate what might emerge from the dregs, detritus, death, and other byproducts of our contemporary society.
Artist Biography
Charlie Dupee (they/he) is a black, white, queer, Maine-born, multi-disciplinary trash collector and visual artist. Charlie works improvisationally with soft, goopy, sometimes lightly-used materials and occasionally in digital media. Their practice is slow, meditative, and consists largely of thinking about work—that will never be made—in an attempt to combat the trappings of hyperproductivity in american capitalism. He received his MFA from UNC Chapel Hill.
