Ying Ang: Fruiting Bodies

Ying Ang – Fruiting Bodies
Perimeter Editions

Ying Ang’s Fruiting Bodies merges botanical study with feminist critique, using the mushroom as a conceptual and visual framework to interrogate dominant narratives around fertility, reproduction and the female body. Photographed in urban parks near her home in Melbourne, the images observe fungal forms at various stages – emerging, thriving, decaying – and draw parallels with how femininity and biology are represented in visual culture. Ang’s compositions highlight the physical tactility of mushrooms – their folds, textures and ruptures – inviting the viewer to read them both literally and metaphorically. The book proposes the fungal body as a counterpoint to traditional fertility symbols: distributed rather than centred, regenerative without being reproductive, rooted in decay as much as growth. Essays and design elements further develop the book’s ecofeminist perspective, positioning Fruiting Bodies as a compelling challenge to binary models of gender, nature and power. It is a work that embraces complexity, proposing new ways of seeing life as an interconnected and evolving system.