Mycelium

Mycelium (2021-2023) forms the shared universe of father and son. While Alzheimers’ disease distorts thinking and speech, visual language takes over from words. During joint walks through forests, Justus de Rode tries to bridge the increasing distance from his father through photography. A shared world of wonder grows in the forest. In addition to his own depiction their changing relationship and imagination of his father's experience of the world, De Rode asks his father to paint over photographs. It opens the door to his mind, where existing forms take on a different meaning and colours come to life. Over the course of three years, the painted-over photographs become more and more edited and increasingly figurative, capturing the progressing disease. The trees, with their roots, branches and complex underground network, are the backdrop and metaphor for a new kind of dialogue. This is how de Rode finds his way back to his father.