For the first 3 weeks of July I undertook a residency at Access Space, Sheffield entitled ‘Scents of Our Time’ which saw me utilise candle making to respond to the news events of the day. The residency seeks to gauge whether an audience can engage with the concept of utilising candle making as a means of social and political commentary; subverting preconceptions of what candle making can be and placing it on a contemporary art platform. I didn’t really know what to expect, bo

I’ve been an artist in residence at Access Space for two weeks now, responding to news topics of the day through the unusual art form of candle making. Find out more about my thoughts and processes this coming Wednesday at Access Space from 5.30pm! full details here: I hope you can join me! #candles #aroma #olfactory #culture #Sheffield #making #response #Art #comment #thingstodo #news #candlemaking #residency #scents #evening #closingevening #events #scentsofourtime

This shift in my process intended to reveal the possibilities surrounding interpreting cognitive behaviours and patterns, and whether utilising such possibilities resulted in more coherent perfumery. I think the results are inconclusive as the number of perfumes created this way isn’t comprehensive enough, but I had fun all the same! With many thanks to the artists who afforded their time for me to make their perfume portrait: Claire Lee; Sharon Mossbeck; Brian Daines; Lyn Ca

Perfume as Practice – my current artist’s residency at Orchard Square, Sheffield – affords me one month housed in what is nominally a retail unit in the heart of Sheffield city centre. Positioned in between Starbucks and Waterstones, my residency aims to confound expectations of another product with highly commercial connotations – perfume. My residency provides other artists with a free consultancy service, and the perfumes will be designed as an intimate and direct response

October sees me occupy a craft unit in Orchard Square, Sheffield as part of a Perfume as Practice artist’s residency. I will be creating bespoke perfumes in the space itself, in an effort to celebrate the art of perfumery and explore the possibilities of scent. Perfume as Practice will see me craft many diverse and individual perfumes, each a portrait of another artist. I will create these perfume portraits through a one-on-one consultancy with any willing artist that comes t

Nestled between three established perfume retailers, October will see me take up an artists’ residence in Orchard Square, Sheffield. Nominally a retail unit, my residency will hope to subvert preconceptions of fragrance, which is steeped in consumerism and profit. It will instead highlight the capacity perfume has for portraiture, and will offer an alternative function for fragrance, placing it as a potent means of communication. Watch this space. #shop #communication #contem

…that’s the question I want you to answer! Perfume As Practice, my research-led residency at Bank Street Arts, is really beginning to take shape. I find myself in between crowd-funding reward fulfilment and waiting for materials to arrive. This has provided me with a period of reflection, of clarifying and internalising my ideas. And one thing that has struck me is the fact that I ought to ask people why they wear perfume: After all, my project is about exploring the parallel

Crowdfunding. It’s a term with increasing relevance and, as an artist, I find it an increasingly viable means of – not just acquiring funding – but as a tool to drive a sense of community and inclusion within my practice. Some liken crowdfunding to that of a begging-bowl – a desperate attempt of gathering a few coins in a bid to get some vague and obscure dream off the ground: A bit of an exercise in futility. I disagree, in fact I wholeheartedly disagree, and would go so far

Now that I have a firm idea of the direction I want ‘Perfume as Practice’ to go in, I have decided to create this blog post, listing frequently asked questions about the project. Why? Well aside from the fact that writing all these questions down helps me focus my thoughts, it also gives everyone the opportunity to further understand and clarify my project. If these answers don’t do anything to resolve any query you have about Perfume as Practice, please feel free to get in t

If we think of the reasons why an idea within creative practice remains unfinished, the implications are that the artist thinks the idea cannot be fully realised within any context or space. Possibly because it is too vague an idea, too fragmented, not applicable in relation to other output or perhaps just a little too tired, trite or contrived. At the same time, perfume exists in a space that cannot quite be considered fine art. It exists in a way similar to how craft beer o