Curious Weeds

Stories in a bottle and on silk…

A fragrant exploration of natural ingredients and wild imaginings; stories in a bottle, in the air, on the body and on silk. Drawing energy from the rich soil of creativity and collaboration forged across three continents in these interesting times…

Curious Weeds is a collaborative project involving three artists from diverse creative backgrounds who work on multi-sensory projects involving film, fashion, theatre, animation, and smell.

Curious Weeds animation (Nadia Roden)

Our latest project is a blossoming of unexpected elements expressed through fragrances created by John, and the stories behind these smells painted on scarves by Nadia

We are interested in weeds creeping unbidden into nooks and crannies, old trees sprouting patches of unexpected blossom, vines and tentacles struggling through to see the light. Seeing Isolation as a chance to notice and appreciate cultivated plants growing unchecked alongside outsiders, and to witness the unbridled joy that emerges as a result.

A return to natural order through chaos, a swirling kaleidoscope inspired by this strange present… transporting us to moments from childhood…of freedom and fleeting memories of a mythical past…blurring lines between reality and fantasy…rich with colour and scent…

“…Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.”
(William Wordsworth- I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud)

Our first fragrance, Dancing in the Breeze, is a swirling kaleidoscope of scent delivered on a summer breeze.

The Weeds

For John Foley, personal choice in fragrance is a vital part of the self-portrait each of us creates for ourselves. Scent is vital to identity. With a background in costume and fashion, John composes perfumes and collaborates with artists to bring scents into the visually dominant art world. His work explores the connections between smell and our other senses.

Nadia Roden is an artist who travels freely and fluidly between different mediums.Her textiles, illustrations and animations are playful and vibrant, inhabiting a place that can’t be found on a map.

Tammy Burnstock is a writer, immersive event producer and scented storyteller. Her fascination with scent and cinema has led to ground-breaking olfactory restorations of the first (and last) Smell-O-Vision! film, Scent of Mystery (1960) presented in participatory ‘Smell-O-Vision!’ for the TCM Classic Film Festival, Hollywood. In-Glorious Smell-O-Vision!