Ep. 137: Artistry, Biophilia Beauty & Finding Equilibrium (feat. Jon Ching)

09/25/22 • 66 min

Today on Mushroom Hour we are graced by the presence of one of my favorite biophiliacs and artists -Jon Ching. Jon grew up steeped in natural beauty on the island of O’ahu, Hawai’i, which formed the foundation of his deep fascination with the natural and wild world. A self-taught painter, Jon’s devoted art practice and detailed realism is inspired by the interconnectedness of nature. While dedicated to the minute idiosyncrasies of flora and fauna, Jon’s work is a surreal imagining of what limitless wonders and combinations nature can produce. New creatures and symbioses emerge in his meticulously rendered oil paintings, exemplifying the endless potential of life on Earth. His work is often driven by his personal desire to find balance between the human and natural worlds, exploring themes of symbiosis and searching for connections, physical and metaphorical, across nature’s kingdoms. Highlighting man-made threats to the natural world are a regular theme in his work to raise awareness of and evoke compassion for the kingdoms of life. Jon’s ultimate hope is to inspire love and admiration for the universally unique beauty and intrigue of our world.
TOPICS COVERED:

Childhood in Hawaii as Inspiration
Unlocking Biological Imagination
Powers of Observation
Impact of Becoming a Father
Slowing Down
Communicating Ecological Messages Through Artwork
Fungi Finding Their Way onto the Canvas
Navigating the Professional Art World
Gallery Shows
Materials, Process and Timeline of Creating Paintings
From Paintings to Murals
Future Projects
WTF NFTs
Finding Equilibrium with Natural Systems

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Jon Ching Website: https://jonchingart.com/
Jon Ching IG: https://www.instagram.com/jonchingart/
Jon Ching FB: https://www.facebook.com/JonChingArt
Jon Ching @ Beinart Gallery: https://beinart.org/collections/jon-ching
Hericium erinaceus (AKA Lions Mane): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hericium_erinaceus

Childhood in Hawaii as Inspiration
Unlocking Biological Imagination
Powers of Observation
Impact of Becoming a Father
Slowing Down
Communicating Ecological Messages Through Artwork
Fungi Finding Their Way onto the Canvas
Navigating the Professional Art World
Gallery Shows
Materials, Process and Timeline of Creating Paintings
From Paintings to Murals
Future Projects
WTF NFTs
Finding Equilibrium with Natural Systems

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Jon Ching Website: https://jonchingart.com/
Jon Ching IG: https://www.instagram.com/jonchingart/
Jon Ching FB: https://www.facebook.com/JonChingArt
Jon Ching @ Beinart Gallery: https://beinart.org/collections/jon-ching
Hericium erinaceus (AKA Lions Mane): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hericium_erinaceus

Previous Episode

Ep. 136: Biotechnology, Mycelium Materials & The "Art, Science, Society Triad" (feat. Prof. Vera Meyer)

Today on Mushroom Hour we have the privilege of interviewing Professor Vera Meyer from the Technical University of Berlin. Professor Meyer’s career has seen her as a visiting scientist to the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine in London (2003) and to the department of Fungal Genetics and Metabolomics at Leiden University in the Netherlands (2005 - 2006). In 2008, Professor Meyer was appointed assistant professor for Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology at Leiden University, a position she held for three years. Since 2011, she has been professor at the Institute of Biotechnology and head of its department for Applied and Molecular Microbiology at the Technical University of Berlin. Her scientific work in the field of fungal biotechnology has been published in more than 100 publications. Vera also works as a visual artist, using the pseudonym V. meer. She puts a strong emphasis on sculpting and creating objects from chance finds like forest mushrooms, decaying wood and scrap metal. Inspired by her scientific work with fungi in microbiology, she combines these materials in the sense of a found object. Through her artwork, she wants to enhance the awareness for fungi and their potential in biotechnology and for a sustainable bioeconomy in general.
TOPICS COVERED:

Childhood Fascination with the Invisible
Fungal Biotechnology
Seeing Fungi as Friends and as Foes
Importance of Multi-Disciplinary Approach
Open Science Movement
Aspergillus niger, Citric Acid and the Origins of Modern Biotechnology
Primary and Secondary Metabolism
Modulating Metabolic Processes of Aspergillus in Making Products
Synthetic Biology
BioReactor Cultivation & Ecology of a BioReactor
Mycelium Materials
Building a Mycelium Materials Database
Transdisciplinary Collaboration
Reconciling Biotechnology with Conservation and the Precautionary Principle

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Vera Meyer Academic Page @ TU Berlin: https://www.tu.berlin/en/vcard/vera.meyer
Vera Meyer Art (V.Meer): https://www.v-meer.de/
Vera Meyer IG: https://instagram.com/v.meer_/
Art Lab Berlin: https://artlaboratory-berlin.org/de/forschung/mind-the-fungi/
TU Berlin - Natural Building Lab: https://www.nbl.berlin/
"Beauty of the Morbid" Article: https://fungalbiolbiotech.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40694-016-0028-4
Aspergillus niger: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspergillus_niger
Fomes fomentarius: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fomes_fomentarius
Macrolepiota procera (AKA Parasol Mushroom): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macrolepiota_procera

Next Episode

Ep. 138: Paleontology & Prototaxites - Mysteries of the Gigantic, Paleozoic Fungus (feat. Dr. Kevin Boyce)

Today on Mushroom Hour we have the privilege of being joined by Dr. Kevin Boyce, Professor of Geological Sciences at Stanford University. Dr. Boyce's research is focused on the biological and environmental impacts of the evolution of plant structure, development, and physiology from the Paleozoic colonization of land through the subsequent radiations of land plant forms up to and including the Cretaceous radiation of flowering plants. This work involves both living and fossil plants and a wide variety of approaches: developmental and physiological investigation, climate modeling, comparative study of morphological diversity, and cell and tissue-specific analysis of elemental, isotopic, and organic chemistry. These tools have been applied to three connected areas of research that each inform wider questions concerning the evolution of terrestrial environments: 1. the evolution of leaf morphology, development, and physiology with feedbacks to climate and primary productivity, 2. the evolution of cell wall biochemistry and its influence on organic matter burial as a sink in the carbon cycle, and 3. the establishment of early terrestrial life and ecosystems encompassing the complete biota including animals, fungi, and microbial communities in addition to the plants. I’m excited to learn about the coevolution of plants and fungi, prototaxites and how we learn about organismal evolution and community assembly from the ancient past.
TOPICS COVERED: