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| Kath Fries, Mistletoe collection and drawings in my Hill End studio, 2013 |
On my drive to Hill End from Sydney I noticed a number of strange, reddish, shaggy parasitic plants growing on gum trees, but I didn't know what they were. Now having been in Hill End for over two weeks, I've seen many more of them, found out they're called Box Mistletoe (Amyema miquelii), and collected pieces for my studio.
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| Kath Fries, Dead mistletoe branch, Hill End, 2013 |
At first I assumed mistletoe was an introduced pest, but I soon discovered that this variety is actually indigenous - one of Australia's 90 native species of mistletoe. There are about 1500 species are found across the world: characterised as perennial flowering plants, usually woody and shrubby or vine-like, which grow as parasites attached to the branches of trees and shrubs.
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| Kath Fries, Mistletoe growing at Hill End, 2013 |
Mistletoe needs plenty of sunlight so it's usually seen in cleared areas, by the side of the road and in paddocks. This also explains its abundance around Hill End's large open spaces, which have been very slow to regenerate and recover from the environmental decimation of the 1870s gold mining boom.
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| Kath Fries, Mistletoe growing at Hill End, 2013 |
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| Kath Fries, Mistletoe growing at Hill End, 2013 |
"The mistletoe is most popularly known through its place in ancient legends and mythology, and its widespread use in folk medicine. To the naturalist, however, its fascination stems from its unusual life history and its interactions with other plants and animals. To the biologist, in recent years, it has become a useful tool in research, and studies of mistletoe have contributed in a variety of ways to our knowledge of plant evolution. Research on mistletoes has furthered understanding of the origins of southern hemisphere vegetation, the evolution of mimicry in plants, the development of sexual differentiation or dioecy in plants, and of course the biology of parasitism."
Exploring the world of mistletoes, Australian National Herbarium
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| Kath Fries, Dead mistletoe, Hill End, 2013 |
Mistletoe is a hemi-parasite, taking water and minerals from its host but photosynthesising its own food - so it doesn't usually kill its host, only the single branch to which it is attached. But this means that when the host branch dies, so does the mistletoe - leaving behind a skeletal witch-like claw. The unusual branching structure and the haustorium (the point where the mistletoe attaches to the host branch) is a fascinating form and remnant of this unusual plant's life cycle. The undulations of the haustorium are fungal shaped - like the underside of a mushroom, marking the point of connection, transference and attachment, the lifeline of the mistletoe.
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| Kath Fries, Fallen mistletoe in Golden Gully, 2013 |
The word parasite comes the latinisation of the Greek παράσιτος (parasitos), "one who eats at the table of another"
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| Kath Fries, Fallen mistletoe in Golden Gully, 2013 |
The haustorium forms when a sticky mistletoe seed is deposited on the host branch by the Mistletoe bird (after eating the mistletoe fruit). The sticky seed fastens onto the branch and within days a tiny tendril emerges from the seed, growing quickly and secreting a cocktail of enzymes directly onto the corky outer protection of the branch. Unable to resist the onslaught, the bark yields a small ulcer-like hole into which the tendril probes, forming a modified root that seeks its way down into the sappy tree tissue forming a connection through which water and nutrients pass from the host to the mistletoe. This tendril grows into a complex root system melding into the woody structure of the host's branch, becoming a living part of the branch receiving all the nutrients that the foliage of the host plant receives.
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| Kath Fries, Fallen mistletoe in Golden Gully, 2013 |
This fallen mistletoe plant that I found in Golden Gully, looked spider-like and seemed perfectly shaped to fit into into the entrance of a nearby old disused mineshaft. I awkwardly lifted it into place all the while feeling that there was something a little spooky about positioning the mistletoe there, as though it was crawling out from the dark shadowy depths of the tunnel, solidifying the presence of a ghost or an alien emerging from the depths.
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| Kath Fries, Mistletoe installation in Golden Gully, 2013 |
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| Kath Fries, Mistletoe installation in Golden Gully, 2013 |
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| Kath Fries, Mistletoe installation in Golden Gully, 2013 |
Despite the bright midday sunlight, this narrative element was further exacerbated by stories of the 1870s Chinese miners working in Golden Gully, who built their mine shafts in a round (rather than square) shape so that ghosts could not hide in the corners...
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| Kath Fries, Mistletoe branch in my Hill End studio, 2013 |
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| Kath Fries, Mistletoe on tip toes, Hill End studio, 2013 |
Back in my AIR studio in Murray's cottage I've continued to work with pieces of mistletoe, intrigued by their animated forms, precarious balance and vague sense of threatening invasion. Although they are an important part of natural ecology, parasites will always be interpreted as alien, foreign and invasive - my imagination leaps into cinematic sic-fi imagery! But closer to home, any sort of ordinary natural parasite on or in one's body (like fleas or tape worms) makes one's skin crawl and a disproportionate hysterical reaction is just a breath away.
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| Kath Fries, Mistletoe haustorium in my Hill End studio, 2013 |
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| Kath Fries, Mistletoe haustorium in my Hill End studio, 2013 |
The mistletoe haustorium is particularly interesting, the point where the mistletoe meets with and connects with the host branch - it is the face of the alien, the mouth of the leach - but safely dead, rendered harmless, frozen and still. Brought indoors, within a somewhat controlled environment, it becomes easier to isolate, interpret and analyse these responses, as the false (but reassuring) notion that humans are in control of our bodies and our surrounding environment is again restored.
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| Kath Fries, Collection of mistletoe outside my Hill End studio, 2013 |
Some references:
Exploring the world of mistletoes www.anbg.gov.au/mistletoe
Are mistletoes friend or foe? www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2004/03/05/2044992.htm
The mistletoe: it's as Australian as the gum tree www.theage.com.au/action/printArticle?id=2853351
Misunderstood mistletoe asgap.org.au/apol2006/jul06-1.html
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| Kath Fries, Dead mistletoe branch, Hill End, 2013 |
This Sunday is Hill End Open Studio Day!
10 artist's studios will be open to the public, including my artist-in-residence studio at Murray's cottage... more info www.hillendartscouncil.blogspot.com.au
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| Hill End Artists Open Studio Day, 22 Sept 2013 |
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| Kath Fries, Mistletoe in my Hill End studio on Margaret Olley's kilim rug, 2013 |
I would like to thank Hill End artist-in-residence program www.hillendart.com.au, Bathurst Regional Art Gallery (BRAG) www.bathurstart.com.au and National Parks, for the opportunity to spend four weeks at Murray's cottage.
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