CHRISTINA CATANESE

In fiber sculpture and photographs, The Foragers explored how nature can create something from almost nothing. Featuring all manner of fungi – brackets, buttons, ruffles, and the quintessential toadstool – Melissa Maddonni Haims’ and Josh Haims’ work celebrated the diversity and surprise of wild mushrooms in the forest ecosystem. This husband-wife team had long been mesmerized by mushrooms. Inspired by the forms of these fungi, fiber artist Melissa created crochet mushrooms and assembled forest tableaus using bark and wood foraged in local forests. Josh’s photographs brought these mushrooms to saturated, luminescent life. Both whimsical and delicate, these richly colored artworks gave small windows into the vibrant forest floor. Melissa’s crocheted imitations were on view in the gallery as well as long the trails, at times alongside their wild counterparts.