Scoby (symbiotic colonies of bacteria and yeasts) sculpture. Sculpture made from microbial-fungal cellulose grown from a ‘Mother’ culture called a Scoby. The process of growing and layering the cellulose is slow as each layer takes 1-3 weeks to grow in the Kombucha fermentation brew. The length of time in the brew impacts on the thickness of the cellulose sheets. The cellulose when it comes out of the brew is wet and adheres easily. Building and layering is easy as each layer of cellulose sticks together. As the cellulose dehydrates over several weeks striations and vein-like markings appear in the material. It drys and becomes taut, translucent, wrinkled and almost paper-thin like aged skin. After several months the cellulose has dehydrated fully.
Future work includes experimenting with different additions ie seed pods to vary the surface texture and form; and also dyeing using natural plant colour extracts.
