MELLI INK | Mumo Forest 28. April 2023 - 15. July 2023
Michael Fuchs Galerie is delighted to present Mumo Forest, the second solo show of artist Melli Ink in the gallery, to be presented during the Berlin Art Weekend 2023. The exhibition features Melli Ink’s latest body of work, including her series of pieces inspired by mushrooms —which have occupied the imaginary of the artist since 2021— as well as her newest glass sculptures inspired by mandrake roots.
Theatricality is perhaps the first adjective that comes to mind when describing Melli Ink’s Mumo Forest. In her practice, the artist often creates environments in which spectators can immerse themselves and experience the artworks and the exhibition design from within, rather than from the outside. Not only the artworks but everything surrounding them pulls the spectator inside Mumo Forest. The powder rose coloured carpet, the walls painted in ocre yellow, forest green and terracota —colours inspired by famous architect Le Corbusier—, as well as the vitrines, are all elements carefully designed by the artist in order to transform the space into an almost cinematic landscape.
As one enters the exhibition space, three large scale velvet mushroom sculptures immediately make themselves present. The juxtaposition between them and the refined vitrines reflecting the pink color of the carpet create an atmosphere reminiscent of a luxury boutique rather than a gallery space, questioning the role of art within the art market. Everything in the room is an experience, a mise en scene that reveals Melli Ink’s former training as a set designer.
Echoing her previous solo show at Michael Fuchs in 2018, in Mumo Forest Melli Ink also combines a large scale installation with smaller glass sculptures and a series of drawings. In the case of this exhibition, Melli’s Forest is a carefully curated composition of mushrooms, woodwork and mandrake roots: some of them are housed inside big rectangular vitrines, meanwhile others grow out of the walls or hang from them. Some of the mushrooms and mandrake roots are delicate mouth-blown glass sculptures, meanwhile others are complex watercolours or graphite drawings. Together, they complement and reference each other, and sometimes they also hint to or derive from previous works.
In recent years, Melli Ink has been interested in exploring the complexity of mushrooms and the entanglements that exist between them and other natural elements of the forest. One aspect that has drawn the attention of the artist is the fact that mushrooms, as well as mandrake roots, can be both healing and poisonous. This duality also plays an important part in Mumo Forest, making it an exhibition full of contrasts: on one side, the pieces display the healing qualities of nature, with its beauty and balance necessary for life. On the other, the artificial colours of Mumo Forest feel somewhat poisonous and uncanny, almost like a scene taken out of a David Lynch movie.
Ultimately, however, Mumo Forest is a reminder that nothing is purely light or dark. Everything has two sides, and it’s up to the spectator to find the right balance.