Essence
Installation from (5) Take my Hand - Held Meanings.Hand-turned wood, glass, acrylic, dried botanicals, resins, seeds, oud wood shavings, and handmade oil blend.
(Below, you can find the correspondence between the jars and the names)
These materials were chosen carefully through my personal relationship with them. They do not share one fixed meaning, but carry layered histories and associations with protection, welcome, remembrance, and symbolic gestures of care. Several of these resins and woods have traditionally been burned so that their scent can move through a space, while flowers, seeds, leaves, and oils have been infused, carried, offered, or kept close.
Here, the materials remain unburned and are held inside hand-turned wooden vessels. Their aromas are quieter and ask for proximity. Each can be approached separately and at your own rhythm, allowing you to choose whether and how to encounter it.
There is no correct way to recognise or interpret these scents. I deliberately chose not to make their names available at first glance, so that the first encounter can happen through scent, memory, and association rather than identification. Some may feel familiar and others distant. They may awaken memories, associations, comfort, discomfort, or curiosity. Together, they form an almost invisible layer of the installation, moving beyond their vessels and meeting each person differently.
A
Harmal (Peganum harmala), under a glass dome
Hand-turned wooden vessels containing:
Black benzoin resin (Styrax paralleloneurus)
Red benzoin resin (Styrax tonkinensis)
Mastic resin (Pistacia lentiscus)
Labdanum resin (Cistus creticus)
Oud wood shavings
B
Orange blossoms, in a glass jar
Hand-turned wooden vessels containing:
Black cumin seeds (Nigella sativa)
Dried myrtle leaves (Myrtus communis)
Frankincense resin (Boswellia papyrifera)
A handmade blend of oils and plants
