Obligate Mutualism, 2020, mixed media, 8.75 x 6.75 x 3 in. / 22.22 x 17.14 x 7.62 cm.

Obligate Mutualism, Suze Woolf, 2020, mixed media, 8.75 x 6.75 x 3 in. / 22.22 x 17.14 x 7.62 cm.

Artist Book: wood, wool felt, linen thread and embroidery floss

Mountain pine beetles and pinion Ips carry species of fungi on their bodies. The fungi's microfilaments burrow into the wood searching for nutrients. They transfer phosphorus and nitrogen back out toward the surface; without them, these beetles could not digest the wood. The covers represent the beetle galleries; embroidery on the pages represent the fungi, whose grazing leaves a tell-tale stain in the wood--bluer for the mountain pine beetle and greyer for the pinon Ips.