Naia Poyer

East Asian Studies Undergraduate Program Coordinator

Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations

A vibrant fall scene in a woodland clearing by a fallen log covered in purple oyster mushrooms. Next to the log, surrounded by autumn leaves, glowing mushrooms, and Ghost Pipe plants, a partly-buried human hand emerges from the dirt next to a torn piece of paper reading "Thank You."

Thank You is Not Enough

Oil painting

Thank You is Not Enough explores the feeling of being in a relationship that, while loving, requires one partner to provide disproportionate care and emotional labor to the other.

Dainty, brown-and-cream speckled sculpted mushrooms surrounded by preserved reindeer moss on a fragment of sculpted tree bark. Two smaller images to the right show how the mushrooms glow gently in the gloom and brightly in the dark.

Armillaria Mellea (Honey Mushroom)

Air-dry clay, epoxy, acrylic paint, glow pigment, preserved reindeer moss

One of the most prized edible fungi, honey mushrooms are found all over the world and some types are bioluminescent, producing the phenomenon known as “foxfire.” Thoroughly cooked, they have a nutty flavor; improperly cooked, they can be poisonous.

Artist Statement

Naia is an agender painter, sculptor, writer, and an award-winning book designer with a BA in Art from Swarthmore College and an MTS in East Asian Religions from Harvard Divinity School. They are published in two fantasy anthologies (soon three with THE NIGHT BAZAAR: LONDON).

Websites

NaiadArtDesign.com

Instagram: @NaiadArtDesign, @DeathcapDecor

Facebook: Naiad Book Design, Deathcap Decor

School/Unit

Faculty of Arts and Sciences

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