This body of work is based on the book Search for The Mother Tree by biologist Suzanne Simard. It details her discovery of the ectomycorrhizal fungal network under the forest floor, the so called the ‘wood-wide-web’ connecting individual trees, protecting seedlings from infection and delivering nitrogen which would be otherwise inaccessible to trees. The removal of trees in urban environments and deforestation has a severe effect on biodiversity of mycorrhizal fungi. Replanting trees is not enough to restore forest ecosystems: mycorrhizal fungi and microbial communities need to be restored as well. 

Botanist Simard has spent years working on this theory as part of a wider body of work, discovering what it means for forests, the climate and the wider Anthropocene. This theory offers the potential for positive change through knowledge.

Fiona Hamilton is a Bristol based printmaker. Her work explores the ecological sublime and an appreciation of the majesty of nature. She uses detailed intaglio etching, drypoint, lithography and chine collé to draw the viewer into an ethereal landscape that has an impact on our sense of place in relation to the natural world. She uses primarily black and white often with natural tones of chine collé and occasionally layers of lithographic texture to introduce warmth to the stark palette and to invoke a sublime emotional connection. She works from sketches, photographs, notes and memory to create her prints.

Fiona has an MA in Multi-Disciplinary Printmaking from UWE, Bristol and BA Fine Art from UCA, Canterbury. She prints at Spike Print Studio, Bristol.