Angeles – based artist Sam Shoemaker. This will be the Artist’s first exhibition with the Gallery. More Permanent Than Snow will be on view at OCHI, located at 3301 W Washington Blvd, Los Angeles, California from July 16 to August 27, 2022. An Artist’s Reception will be held on Saturday, July 16th from 5:00 to 9:00 pm PST.
Drawn to objects that behave, react, change, grow, and carry rhythm, Shoemaker collects and propagates mushrooms sourced from wild urban growth in Los Angeles and myco culture libraries worldwide, supporting their fragile lifestyles in highly controlled environments of his design. Pairing Ganoderma lingzhi, or Reishi mushrooms, known for their medicinal qualities and red-varnish coloring, with hand-built ceramic vessels blown glass, and plinths, Shoemaker develops a unique substrate formula that allows the mushrooms to grow for several months, slowly emerging from within each vessel into unique, dynamic forms. Comparable to a long exposure in photography, Shoemaker carefully moves LED lights, adjusts the temperature, changes the saturation of CO2, or moves the Reishi themselves closer or farther apart, carefully choreographing the forms.
