Artist Statement

The work of Wylde Oake Artistry can be summed up in one word – mushrooms!
Soft pastel and pastel pencil renditions of, primarily, local Derbyshire fungi are seen within highly detailed botanical representations, conceptual imagery or more abstract impressions that incorporate unexpected colours and more loosely worked marks.
An artistic inter-disciplinary process within the natural environment combines with self-led research, that has its foundations both in the artist’s BA (Honours Textiles) and MA in Fine Art (2023). The resulting work also speaks of the artist’s life-long love of ecology and latterly a passion for all things mycological.
The underlying narratives seek to portray the beauty of this often-hidden kingdom whilst exploring the interconnectivity of species and the self-imposed boundaries, that exist between nature and the human body, due to contemporary distractions within a disrupted world. The work ultimately seeks to question these boundaries and position us as a companion species through becoming part of and engaging once more with the natural world.