It's never a bad time for mushroom art. Mushrooms have been a common theme throughout history and pre-history, but particularly in modern pop-cultural art. There's a mystique and aura that surrounds these species. It is fascinating that humans are more closely related to mushrooms than to plants and probably no accident that we usually describe their gustatory texture as "meaty". While a lot of mushroom illustrations are inspired by their culinary properties, it's pretty much cliché that when you see a mushroom on a poster, album illustration, or other piece of pop art, it's making a reference to its psychedelic properties. So, what better way to start the year than with a set of Stable Diffusion generated images that pay homage to the tiny but mighty mushroom and its influence on modern art (and possibly human evolution).
A psychedelic experience with mushrooms can be a life-altering, good and/or bad. If you're not prepared mentally, physically, and environmentally, then you're asking for a world of trouble by ingesting these specimens (in addition to having to deal with the legal ramifications of using illicit substances). The experience is powerful and revealing, so much so that it can have a profound influence on your brain functioning. It literally rewires your brain. Those who have had a positive experience have benefitted in several spheres of life including mental health, productivity, spirituality, STEM, music, sexuality, interpersonal relations, visual arts, and more. The alteration of consciousness as a result of ingesting mushroom is so deep and broad that some thinkers believe that it may have been the spark for brain growth and expansion of consciousness throughout human evolution. Proponents of such theories like Terence McKenna went further. They proposed that mushrooms are not from Earth but came from outer space. They are literally an alien intelligence. I'm not going to get into the specifics of the Stoned Ape theory (because really), but the following piece of underrated musical and artistic brilliance sums up the key points.
Clearly, the artists took a few creative liberties there, but the general gist of the theory is there. It posits that human evolution was altered in a major way by the ingestion of mushrooms by early hominid species- hence the "stoned ape" moniker in the theory. How scientific is this theory? It depends. To a rational and logical mind that requires facts to make sense of the world, the theory is bonkers, bollocks, BS, or any combination thereof. For the mushroom-altered mind that is more receptive to a broad spectrum of internal-external signal-events, the theory makes absolute and total sense. I don't know of many serious attempts to even address the topic by "serious" scientists. Instead, it's been far-out researchers like Graham Hancock the ones who try to put a more scientific spin on the idea. I don't know the scientific merits of this theory but given my personal experience, it does make sense. Repeated use of this substance can lead to (positive/negative) alterations in consciousness that are long lasting. I'm more skeptical about the idea that mushrooms came from space, but formal and informal research has shown that mushroom spores can survive outer space. If mushrooms can indeed survive a high orbital space environment, then perhaps it's not outside the realm of possibility that they can survive a journey across interstellar space.
For this generative art series, I wanted to capture that magical sense of alien-ess that surrounds the mushroom experience. The strange, the magical, and the absurd. I hope you enjoy it and have an illuminating 2023.
Images generated by 
