The Scent of Emotion

This project will exhibit various fragrances and scents in the form of candles and oil diffusers to explore how the experience of certain aromas can stimulate specific emotional responses. Using research on brain function and anatomy, this project explores brain processes that allow a scent to send signals to regions of the brain where we store memories and form emotional responses that can therefore create or mimic environments of desired moods or settings. Our brains respond differently to different smells depending on common or unique associations we have with them. The audience will form their own connection to the exhibit by smelling the various fragrances while learning the greater impact of their sense of smell. Using the practices, culture, and psychology behind aromatics, the exhibit will display fragrances with definitive scents that will spark sensory responses from an audience and support a deeper value of smell concerning emotion, memory, and feelings in an atmosphere through an exhibit of candles, oil reed diffusers, and sculptures that represent how a scent can evoke responses related to the six basic emotions of anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise. This project aims to present how powerful our noses are, awakening our senses to receive all the aromas of the world.