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Perfume as Practice AW17

Perfume as Practice AW17 housed 20 perfumes at Surface Gallery, Nottingham from 3rd – 18th November 2017. Each perfume was a portrait of another artist, achieved through my established process that begins by asking artists ‘why do you make art?’ then interpreting the response received through a method of intuition and investigation. In an effort to establish connections between each portrait, the exhibition was housed under the theme of ‘constellations’. This theme was chosen because it occurred to me that similarities exist between fragrance and space – they both have a certain intangibility about them that is difficult to comprehend. I figured that placing both concepts within the same space might inform our understanding of both. Therefore, 5 paintings of constellations were also incorporated into the show.

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The constellations I chose were carefully selected in reference to the responses received to the question ‘why do you make art?’ I ensured that relevant fragrances were place beside relevant constellations. For example, Hydra – a constellation synonymous with the idea of ‘the beast within’ – was placed beside fragrances of artists who cited compulsion and inner necessity as the reasons why they made art. Whereas Microscopium – a constellation synonymous with investigation – was placed beside fragrances of artists who cites wanting to further our understanding of the world as reason why they made art.

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The exhibition included an opening night, talk and a perfume making workshop, which gave participants an opportunity to directly explore the possibilities of fragrance by making a perfume of their own.

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Many thanks to the artists whose perfume portraits were housed in Perfume as Practice AW17 here is a description of each or their perfumes 

 

Zoyander Street 50ml EDT | Adam Jones 50ml EDT | Julianne Chauhan 50ml EDT | Emilia Telese 50ml EDT | Rachel Zan 50ml EDT

Stacey Warner 50ml EDT | Chris Oliver 50ml EDT | Red 50ml EDT | Hannah Staniforth 50ml EDT | Martha Hunter 50ml EDT

Gary Hartley 50ml EDT | Jason Thomas Richardson 50ml EDT | Anne Pollitt 50ml EDT | Chris Millward 50ml EDT | Holly Kerslake 50ml EDT

Marc Willetts 50ml EDT | Vicky West 50ml EDT | Clare Townley 50ml EDT | Joe Millie Norman 50ml EDT | Tim Bennett 50ml EDT

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