Artwork
For Dagmar Engels, the mushroom in the autumnal forest is both symbol and allegory.
As a fruiting body, it marks the starting point for the reproduction (fungal spores) of life. It serves the living beings as food. It is a medium of communication (language of the trees). Colloquially, only the above-ground fruiting body is called a mushroom. The actual fungus, however, is the mycelium, which is invisible to the eye and consists of hyphae, a living organism that can live for thousands of years and assume enormous proportions. The entire forest floor is permeated by it. The individual trees are in contact with each other via the fungal mycelium. Substances are exchanged and information is passed on. Trees communicate.
The installation of abstracted mushroom forms wants to make this tangible for the viewer. In this way, a model for the language of trees is created. The change over time due to external influences is intentional and part of the concept. Thus, the aging process is visualized.
Artist
Dagmar Engels, born 1957, lives and works since 1999 in the artist studio AAK 1 in Eckfeld near Wittlich.
After working in various places (Munich, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Frankfurt) and studying design at the University of Applied Sciences Trier, she concentrated on her artistic work.
The focus is on abstract painting, as well as three-dimensional works and installations.
The theme is the visualization of abstract landscapes and spaces in which the viewer can discover creatures and fantasy worlds.
Exhibition activity since 2014, board member of the Kultur- und Kunstverein Trier e.V.