Humans coexist with the natural world and benefit from its abundant resources. From the soil all creatures emerge and will return in due course. It is the interconnectedness of life which inspires Debra Sue Solecki in her latest exhibition, Nature’s Networks: A Visual Exploration of Mycelium. By way of a complex mixture of writing, pasted historical photography and realistic paintings of mushrooms, Solecki takes the viewer along a journey of transformation and imaginative interpretations of the cycle of life. A collection of over two dozen works fill the Sally J. Otto Gallery at BAYarts, a lakeside arts center that makes for the perfect environment to display Solecki’s pieces.

Many of the works are grand in scale, creating an entire world within the confines of the canvas. Circle of Life is hung to be seen as soon as the onlooker enters the gallery space. It overwhelms with its presence alone, using bright hues of blue, red, and green as a hook. The true allure is in its message – a statement that rings true to most of the pieces featured in the exhibition. Solecki frequently uses circular shapes to represent nature’s cyclical quality. A golden halo surrounds a proudly standing mushroom, embedded with round holes and surrounded by dozens more. Mushrooms and other fungi are the symbols of the transition from one stage of life to the next. A building abandoned falls into the hands of a variety of fungus and creeping vines that then call it home. Solecki attributes this particular ‘circle of life’ to the study the use of fungi in the decomposition of plastics in a process that is both sustainable and useful for providing soil with fertilizing nutrients. Circle of Life visually communicates the heroism of the mushroom as a vehicle of pollution management and savior of sorts. The mushroom stands tall amongst fallen logs, tufts of grass, and mushroom companions. It is a bright and hopeful piece – turning to fungi in the face of imminent climate disaster.

Solecki often uses printed musical compositions to create texture and visual interest. In the case of Circle of Life, the leaves that swirl around the central mushroom consist of small cutouts of music notes and arrangements.

Thin trees in the background of Forage are developed with the same technique that results in a mimicry of birch bark. The implementation of mixed media suits the theme of Forage as well, developing layer upon layer as to imitate the practice of animals and humans foraging in the woods for food and other resources. Starting from the most distant trees to the mushrooms and ferns peppering the foreground, this forest serves as a bountiful harvest to sustain life. The blue mushrooms in the center of the panel are striking against the deep tones of green and brown. It adds a fantastical element – theorize the fairies or gnomes that may inhabit the interior of the caps. Circles make another appearance in the form of juxtaposing bubbles and the cross-section of a massive log. Each component of Forage fuses into a realm that dances between reality and fable.

Solecki displays impressive versatility in manipulating her themes and creative decisions into a multitude of modes while maintaining a recognizable style. Several pieces reflect her interest in spirituality and meditation and the role mushrooms play in these concepts. Mushroom Meditation features a vibrant mandala of fungi, stones, bark, and other plant life expanding into an otherworldly microcosm. The circular motif also continues in a manner that hypnotizes the eye and provokes a miniature divine experience, further connecting to humanity’s reliance on mushrooms. Blue petals unfurling in the innermost point of the mandala capture the viewer’s attention and clusters of mycelium hug the corners of the canvas – acting as a frame. Four

distinctly shaped creatures with mushroom caps atop their heads surround a square towards the center of the yantra-inspired design. Their playful appearances and facial expressions provide a whimsical, child-like characteristic. Similarly to Forage, Solecki blends grounded environments with fairy tale, though she plays further into the latter. Pieces such as Mushroom Meditation express strong talent in environmental storytelling and an ability to incorporate the exhibit’s fungal subject matter within various adaptations.

Mycelia Psychedelia deviates from the works that come before it and takes on a different perspective of the application of mushrooms in society: “magic mushrooms.” Psilocybin mushrooms are used for their psychedelic effects and have been a popular research topic in order to examine possible benefits in treating anxiety or depressive disorders. Solecki’s acrylic painting simulates the visuals often encountered when consuming psilocybin mushrooms. Little is left of the real world; grass and stone are replaced by intricately painted circles. Only the mushrooms and a lone green frog remain intact in the illusive space. Perhaps the frog is also an illusion – a spiritual guide. Solecki had not consumed psychedelics prior to painting her particularly dreamlike works of art, but the inspiration remains clear. Nature is a powerful force capable of forces beyond the scope of human understanding. An extensive color palette of warm and cool shades in the sky look to be celestial bodies orbiting the space. These detailed circular bodies represent what the eye cannot see.

Human and mycelium share more in common than what initially meets the eye. The internet connects human beings across the world, just as mushrooms tether the highest tree canopy to roots buried under the soil. Everything’s Connected concerns itself with this notion and acts as a culmination of Solecki’s creative inner workings in her mycelium series. Photographs and paintings of ocean life, flowers, forest landscapes, and other facets of earthly creation coexist in the panel. Bundles of nerves link one side of the piece to another. Within the core is a depiction of Earth. Small outlines of humans encircle the rim, holding hands in peaceful union. White dots attached by lines resemble constellations. Each living being has a direct effect on another; a “ripple effect” as Solecki so effectively describes it. Once again, circles of different sizes engulf the scene – no plant nor animal is above Mother Nature’s inevitable cycles.

BAYarts is a dazzling location and Solecki amplifies the beauty with canvases and panels that each tell a much bigger story. She produces art which speaks to a deep interest that demands an outlet to conceptualize her thoughts and emotions. Nature’s Networks: A Visual Exploration of Mycelium provides aesthetically appealing imagery, and stepping closer reveals layer upon layer of thought-provoking discussion about nature’s influence on mankind. It may be untrue to claim that human and fungi are family, but the dependency creates an amicable relationship nonetheless.

Nature’s Networks: A Visual Exploration of Mycelium
Through December 23, 2025
Sally J. Otto Gallery
BAYarts
28795 Lake Rd
Bay Village OH, 44140
bayarts.net

Kylee Herrick is a student at Cleveland State University, participating in CAN’s Broadening the Conversation program.