Ellie Goodliffe

Your works combine mushrooms with human emotions, often showing sadness or inner struggle. What first inspired you to choose mushrooms as the central metaphor for mental health?

I’m captivated by mushrooms, drawn to their distinctive beauty and remarkable ability to flourish in unexpected places. Each year, my sister April and I embark on mushroom hunting adventures in stunning forests. These walks are invigorating, offering us a chance to embrace nature and spend quality time together.

Ellie Goodliffe | Miserable Mushrooms | 2025

In your statement you mention that mushrooms are usually associated with euphoria, yet you wanted to challenge that perception. How do you hope viewers will reinterpret mushrooms through your art?

I use art to highlight emotional pain and societal issues, promoting awareness and fostering empathy. I play with juxtaposition, as mushrooms are often linked to euphoric experiences and joy in pop culture. In contrast, I aim to redefine mushrooms, not just as symbols of sadness but as embodiments of it. This reflects nature’s paradox, where mushrooms thrive and transform amidst decay and darkness, mirroring human struggles I’ve personally witnessed. Additionally, mushrooms possess a stunning complexity in their appearance—much like humans themselves.

Ellie Goodliffe | Depression | 2025

How does your personal experience with mental health shape your mushroom artworks, and are they more self-portraits or universal figures of shared struggles?

I want to openly share my journey with mental health struggles over the years. Growing up in a challenging environment inadvertently led to insomnia, depression, and anxiety during my teenage and early adult years. Much of my art reflects these personal emotions, serving as a safe space to explore, express, and empathize without judgment. Through the Miserable Mushroom series, I’ve also depicted other common challenges, including eating disorders, schizotypal disorders, and addiction. I see these mushrooms as universal figures, representing shared struggles that resonate with many of us.

Ellie Goodliffe | Anxiety | 2025

What role does humor or irony play in your work? Some of the mushrooms are sad, but they also look slightly whimsical.

The mushrooms create an ironic cognitive dissonance, highlighting the clash between reality and perception. I find that humour helps resolve this dissonance, at least for me. So, in response to this question, I’d say that both humour and irony are essential elements of this art piece. I invite viewers to reflect on life’s contradictions with a lighthearted approach. The whimsical appearance of the mushrooms is a deliberate choice to soften the impact of the real struggles many faces. It’s not an attempt to mask or sugarcoat those issues but to make them more accessible, encouraging viewers to engage with difficult questions in a comfortable way.

Ellie Goodliffe | Addiction | 2025

You are also a team leader in a brewery and a new parent. How do these life roles influence your creativity and themes?

I’ve put in tremendous effort to reach my current position in both my career and personal life. I’m confident and assertive, equipped with a range of skills that contribute to my success. This journey was built on overcoming broken self-esteem and a fear of confrontation. Self-awareness, continuous improvement, and reflection have shaped my communication, empathy, and approachability. I strive to be nurturing while encouraging exploration, qualities that serve me well as a parent. I take great pride in fostering healthy, strong relationships and find immense value in sharing and teaching others what I’ve learned.

Ellie Goodliffe | Insomnia | 2025

Can you tell us more about your process? Do you begin with an emotion and then translate it into a mushroom form, or do you start with a mushroom shape and build a story around it?

The Miserable Mushroom process began by reflecting on what addiction might resemble as a mushroom—far removed from the clichéd image of a drunken mess or a partying joker. I aimed to capture the aftermath, the profound sadness that lingers long after the festivities have ended and the hangover has faded. This expression tells the story of a life wasted in selfish indulgence, escaping from inner turmoil. I approached similar emotions for insomnia and depression by sitting with these feelings for a brief, controlled period, using drawing, painting, and feeling to explore them. Other conditions were sketched first and then assigned their deeper meanings later.