XXXIII.
DEEP CONNECTION
Source: Commission assignment. Part of the permanent collection of Het Groote Museum – Artis, Year 2022

Various trees are pencil-drawn on the outer edge of a wall-filling sphere or globe. The solitary trees are rooted in the outer crust of the sphere. Deeper to the core, the mycorrhizal network becomes visible, which connects all trees. Think of the 'Wood Wide Web' as Peter Wohleben calls it to indicate that trees are in contact with each other via underground root systems.

By applying scaling in the drawing, these root structures become visible and you can see how the mycelium attaches itself to the tree roots. The deeper we go into the sphere and the closer we get to the core, the more enlarged and entangled the mycorrhizal network becomes. It then becomes clear that this mycelium in form and function is very reminiscent of our own connective tissue. And that deep beneath the surface, intimate connections exist.