Today on Mushroom Hour we are graced by the presence of one of my favorite biophiliacs and artists -Jon Ching. Jon grew up steeped in natural beauty on the island of O’ahu, Hawai’i, which formed the foundation of his deep fascination with the natural and wild world. A self-taught painter, Jon’s devoted art practice and detailed realism is inspired by the interconnectedness of nature. While dedicated to the minute idiosyncrasies of flora and fauna, Jon’s work is a surreal imagining of what limitless wonders and combinations nature can produce. New creatures and symbioses emerge in his meticulously rendered oil paintings, exemplifying the endless potential of life on Earth. His work is often driven by his personal desire to find balance between the human and natural worlds, exploring themes of symbiosis and searching for connections, physical and metaphorical, across nature’s kingdoms. Highlighting man-made threats to the natural world are a regular theme in his work to raise awareness of and evoke compassion for the kingdoms of life. Jon’s ultimate hope is to inspire love and admiration for the universally unique beauty and intrigue of our world.
TOPICS COVERED:
EPISODE RESOURCES:
Ep. 138: Paleontology & Prototaxites - Mysteries of the Gigantic, Paleozoic Fungus (feat. Dr. Kevin Boyce)
Ep. 136: Biotechnology, Mycelium Materials & The "Art, Science, Society Triad" (feat. Prof. Vera Meyer)
Ep. 135: Wine Forest Wild Foods - Origins and Evolution of America's Wild Mushroom Business (feat. Connie Green)
Ep. 134: Life in Amber - 50-Million-Year-Old Cordyceps & Other Fossilized Fungi (feat. George Poinar Jr. PhD)
Ep. 133: Ancient Pathways, Ancestral Knowledge - Ethnobotany and Ecological Wisdom of Indigenous Peoples (feat. Prof. Nancy Turner)
Ep. 132: Community Assembly, Plant-Fungal Associations and Mycorrhizal Ecologies (feat. Dr. Kabir Peay)
Ep. 131: Temptress Truffles, Fruiting Bodies Collective & Compassionate Upliftment (feat. Elan Hagens)
Ep. 130: Fungal Systematics, Mushroom Ancestry & Recognizing Patterns (feat. Dr. Andrew Wilson)
Ep. 129: Regenerative Soil Microscopy: the Book, Course & Database (feat. Matt Powers)
Ep. 128: NYC Mycology, Greenwood Cemetery & DIY DNA Sequencing (feat. Sigrid Jakub)
Ep. 127: Culinary Mushroom Magic & Commercial Foraging Anarchy (feat. Graham Steinruck)
Ep. 126: The Art in Mushroom Cultivation & Embracing the Unknowable (feat. Sam Shoemaker)
Ep. 125: Community Assembly & Fungi that Live in Flower Nectar (feat. Prof. Tadashi Fukami)
Ep. 124: Ali the Fungi Guy - Mushrooms, Joy & Wellbeing (feat. Ali McKernan)
Ep. 123: Mushlabs - Fermentation, Fungi & Foods of the Future (feat. Dr. Mazen Rizk)
Ep. 122: Church of the People for Creator Mother Earth - Authentic, Indigenous, Psychedelic Ceremony (feat. Shane Norte)
Ep. 121: Flora & Fungi Adventures - Campfire Magic, Truffle Tango & the Pursuit of Pleasure (feat. Maria Finn)
Ep. 120: Lichenology - Biodiversity and Evolution of Fungal, Algal Symbiosis (feat. Matthew Nelsen PhD)
Ep. 119: Garden State Mushrooms - Pioneering Cultivation of Beefsteak Mushrooms (feat. Jacob Alvarez)
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