SMELL OF uncovers the relationship between olfaction and memory. A materialisation of memory, the mixed-media installation centres around the scent of Yu Yee oil – a traditional Chinese medicated oil – as its primary element of the work. Drawing from Marcel Proust’s Remembrance of Things Past, the work adopts the concept of involuntary memory and its connections to the sensorial experience. Accompanied by motifs of the Chinese moon goddess, Chang’e (嫦娥) – a well known figure in traditional mythology – the work serves as a vessel for my childhood memories, addressing both the everyday and the intimate. It reflects my ongoing attempts to re-feel, re-smell and re-live moments from the past.
A particular smell makes us unknowingly re-enter a space completely forgotten by the retinal memory; the nostrils awaken a forgotten image, and we are enticed to enter a vivid daydream. The nose makes the eyes remember. – Juhani Pallasmaa, The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses
Chloe Lim is an emerging Singaporean-born artist based in Melbourne and currently in her 3rd year of the Bachelors of Fine Arts Programme at RMIT University. Working primarily with soft sculpture and mixed media installations, her practice addresses personal narratives of diaspora through memory and the multisensory nature of home.
https://chloelimart.myportfolio.com/
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