Artwork > Essential Oils (for Alberta)

Essential Oils (for Alberta), 2016
archival inkjet prints, 55.88 x 81.28 cm, ed. of 3
Collection of City of Calgary Public Art Program

A project developed for Open AiR, a twelve-week residency with The City of Calgary's Public Art program exploring connections to health, natural resources, and place through enfleurage. As part of my residency, I co-facilitated plant walks and workshops with a focus on smell and plants, as well as their edible and medicinal properties. I explored these concepts through enfleurage which is a process used to extract fragrances or essential oils from plants and botanical materials. Essential Oils (for Alberta) is a series comprised of photographs that document my experiments with the enfleurage process. I used botanical (and other materials such as coffee beans and socks) from both communities that were donated, purchased or foraged. The enfleurage workshop was facilitated with Aromatherapist Deanna Russell. Photos by Bryce Krynski.

A series of plant walks was developed and facilitated in collaboration with artist, herbalist, botanist, and educator Latifa Pelletier-Ahmed, owner of Latifa's Herbs and co-owner of ALCLA Native Plants to develop plant walks in downtown Mohkinstsis (Calgary). On the walks, we look at plants, many known as weeds, that are often overlooked in urban environments. We discuss how to identify plants using principles of botany and our senses, including touch and smell. Participants learn about the edible and medicinal properties of the plants and what plants teach us about the environments in which they grow. Photos: Bryce Krynski.