The incredibly talented Cat Bluemke captivated audiences with her inspiring exhibit at the Lunenburg School of the Arts, running from January 16 to 30. Ornamushrooms of Lunenburg reimagines the town’s architectural heritage through experimental sculpture. “The exhibition explores a provocative dialogue between rot and renewal in coastal communities. Can we embrace the decay of our social fabric, if it proves fertile ground to grow a new future?”
Emily Sollows: Tell us a bit about your exhibit!
Cat Bluemke: My current exhibit explores what I call “Ornamushrooms” – a playful fusion of Lunenburg’s heritage architecture and mushroom cultivation. Using 3D-printed molds inspired by local heritage housing ornaments, I’ve grown and preserved both living and preserved mushroom sculptures. The show features these unique pieces alongside speculative models, large format prints, and process work. I developed this site-specific project during my residency at the School, drawing inspiration from our community’s character.
ES: What was the inspiration behind Ornamushrooms of Lunenburg? Why did you want to work with mushrooms?
CB: The project grew from two books I was reading in the first few months of my arrival to Lunenburg County in 2018: Anna Lowenhaupt-Tsing’s “The Mushroom at the End of the World” and Barbara R Roberston’s “Gingerbread and house: a finish of every description”. It wasn’t immediately obvious how I could combine the subjects of foraging mushrooms in capitalist ruins with Nova Scotian heritage housing, but here we are! Heritage preservation isn’t just about maintaining an image of the past, it’s also about speaking to an imaginary future. The Ornamushroom project enabled me to engage with the town’s history as it’s presented by the heritage architecture, while contemplating Lunenburg’s future amidst the ongoing housing and environmental crises we are facing. By suggesting we invite decay into our old wooden homes by covering them with Ornamushrooms, I’m really encouraging that we contextualize the challenges of preserving the past amidst prioritizing the needs of folks living in this community today.
ES: Tell us a bit about the process.
CB: I’ve described it as experimental, and that really means that I wasn’t sure if it would work! It started simple enough, I sketched the ornamental trim, corbels, and cornices of houses near the School. Using those sketches as references as I created 3D models of them on my computer, further manipulating them into hollow molds I then 3D printed in the studio. The 3D prints then had to be assembled, plastic-welded, and cleaned before I could fill them with the growing material. That material was a combination of a spent mycelium block from Fancy’s Fungi, coffee grounds from No. 9, and coffee chaff from Laughing Whale. The Ornamushrooms took 4-8 weeks to grow, going through multiple growth cycles. While they were growing, I modelled and printed speculative “models” that I’ve displayed in the gallery next to their living siblings.
ES: How have people responded to the exhibit?
CB: The response has been overwhelmingly positive, and wonderfully diverse! While I started this project from my personal fascination of combining mushrooms with vernacular architectural ornament, it’s been amazing to see how it resonates with different groups. Local history buffs, heritage enthusiasts, mycology fans, and even teenage game designers found something to say about the show.
The most exciting response was from the Lunenburg Food Forest at Bluenose Academy, who offered to give the Ornamushrooms a permanent home. They’ll be used to inoculate the Forest in spring, meaning these sculptures will continue growing with our community for years to come! I’m so grateful that both my art and I have found such a welcoming, wonderful home in Lunenburg.
