Isabela Cotecchia

Mycelium Material
Skin
COMPOSITES
Textiles
pele amazonica

BIOMATERIAL
ELASTIC
COLORS

CRAFT
GRAPHIC


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POST PROCESSING: JENIPAPO

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Mycelium Skin Crosslinked with Genipin found in Jenipapo fruit - This makes the Mycelium Material stronger and more flexible, as well as giving it a dark blue/black color. 



Jenipapo is a Brazilian fruit used for centuries in the Amazonian region of Brazil by indigenous communities for body painting, rituals, and spiritual practices.  It contains a natural crosslinker called Genipin, which gives it its powerful color.

Images by Sebastiao Salgado 

It contains a natural crosslinker called: Genipin. The Mycelium and Genipin have a relationship worth exploring. Genipin is also what gives the skin this dark-blue-hued color. Genipin is not a pigment it’s crosslinking with the proteins on our skin, which is why it lasts around 2 weeks on human skin.

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INITIAL EXPERIMENTATION






The Mycelium Skin had grown into a molded top of my chest. No sewing or stitching is required—inverse molding technique with Beeswax.