Raquel Andrés: The Mushroom Series

I have always had a connection with mushrooms, as a kid I often hand picked them when visiting my Grandma. I had an old book at my family home, which was a guide to mushrooms, as a child whenever I had some time in the day I tended to pick up the book looking at the beautiful photographs over and over again, these were some of my fondest memories. I guess the main reason I started this project was due to it’s sentimental value, mushrooms remind me of my childhood my Grandma and family home.

Aside from the sentimental value I find mushrooms visually appealing, the way they are shaped, coloured and their texture all stand out to me. In this series I wanted to decontextualise the mushrooms, make them look modern and create contrast by using backgrounds from environments they wouldn’t necessarily be found in, however always making a final image that from my perspective is pleasing to the eye.

Raquel uses mixed media for his collages taken from a variety of magazines and second hand books, as seen below in his collages using;

The Plant Magazine
“Texas West of the Pecos” Texas A&M University Press. Photographs and text by Jim Bones, JR
“Last Climb” National Geographic
“Quaderns” issue 204