I live in a country where my trade is interrupted after the scent of each work, behind each exhibition, at the end of each experimentation, because lack of knowledge is its most eroding constant.
This transparency of the trade, motivated me to present my works in international scenarios that deepened the different artistic expressions, unthinkable even now, in my country.
The path, showed me’Hammer Museum (LAX) in 2016, after experiencing two of the perfumes I made for the exhibition MediterràniaSens, I was invited to apply for one of the forty places that would be available for the first international exhibition., that was done on the artistry of perfumery in a contemporary art museum.
The journey has always been interesting, With too many walls it is true, but where I have also opened doors with great surprise for my part, in references and opposite spaces at the same time, not so much for what they are as well as what they represent, like the one to be included in the “Who’s Who in Visual Art – Artisans, Craftspeople & Designers“, Publication specialist in the market of English and German -speaking art book at the time and in “Special Noses and Classics“, inside “33 of the best creators of national and international fragrances” according to the oldest and most important magazine in the peninsular perfumery sector, being the first time that a craft perfumer has been recognized (exclusive natural) as a creative nose.
My fundamental way of working has always been the search for synergies with artists., artisans and artistic disciplines, to firmly believe that their creative field is immense, since the perfume, far from being a consumer good, is a sensory tool that optimizes facilities, art works and demonstrations, while enriching, itself through documentary research, of the techniques and values of the staging.
In 2024 I received the DR . Ghada Hijjawi-Qaddumi Honorary Award for Excellence., received from Ms. Rachna Shah, ministerial secretariat of the government of Bharat and the Mr. Saad Al Qaddumi, actual president el World Crafts Council International. Apart from the great honor it represented for my profession, it made it easier for me, another very receptive way to share my knowledge, that I already started in 2023 in Bharat.
Trajectory
Experimental
Perfume scenography - (2010) – Observatory Cycle of the Arts -Tiana
Inspired by the book “My house, my garden ”by Lola Anglada (1958), dance , music and props perfume coming in and out of the stage to expand the perception of what is represented.
Ancient music with historical perfumes- (2014) – Visigodia . Fifteenth Ancient Music Festival - Hermitage (s.XVI) Tiana
Ancient Music Concerts, with historical perfumes for the two concerts of the Festival that are celebrated in the hermitage. During concerts the creations about the Renaissance and the Middle Ages, mix with music and space.
Papasseit, St. George and repression – (2018) – Montblanc - Sant Hilari de Sacalm
From a proposal of VilaDelLibre.cat and The Factory of Lied, twelve perfumes take their form based on the poems of Joan Salvat-Papasseit while they are interpreted by a tenor and a rhapsode, in a different and groundbreaking staging of the Legend of Saint George in Montblanc.
Smell Catalunya (Catalonia)- (2019) – Workshop-Studio El Jardí Secret® - Barcelona
Discover our country smelling traditions and legends; the cultural imprint; the wind and fog; the markets, the squares and small villages; the day -to -day life of the Romans and some more profiles, what personalize Catalonia.
2020 in visual smells - (2021) – Workshop-Studio El Jardí Secret® - Barcelona
Image and headline of the fifty-three weeks concentrated in a fresh and ephemeral perfume. In January of 2021, the full collection was exposed ( lockdown included).
Sense Nom (No Name) - 2021 – Workshop-Studio El Jardí Secret® - Barcelona
A demonstration of the internal complexity of the structure of a perfume that has emerged from the distortion of a perfumer's sense of smell., with Covid
Perfume of a poem- 2024 – Workshop Melmelària - Tiana
Presentation of the unreleased perfume on the opening and closing of the Poem of the Rose on the Lips, that was shown during the year Papasseit, starting the day when the author was born on the 16 th May (1894), as a tribute to the poet.
Exhibitions
MediterràniaSens- (2012) – Hotel Atenea Port– Mataró
Sensory Exhibition on the Mediterranean. The painter Josep Delgado imbued his paintings with the blue magic in which he perceived its corners.. I created the perfumes whose details inspired me..
Art Perfum, the perfume as a tool of art - (2015) – Handicrafts of Catalunya - Barcelona
Experimental exhibition where fragrant notes meet artistic expressions such as music, the theatrer, paiting, the jewelry, history or dance, leave the bottles to guide us from our imagination or fantasy.
Un poble, una passió, un flascó (A village, a passion, a bottle) - (2017) – Garden of Lola Anglada – Tiana
Ephemeral exhibition where to discover hidden perfumes, created in the perfume organ of El Jardí Secret®, most of them inspired by the village, the people and the environment of Tiana.
Crafts and Sustainability- (2017) – Handicrafts of Catalunya - Barcelona
Participation in the collective exhibition that shows the innovations and good practices of the Catalan artisan sector around environmental and social sustainability, With NU a perfume made with sustainable and wild cultivation subjects.
Drops of history - (2017) – Palau del Vidre (France) – Vimbodí - Ascó – Tiana
Synergy of painted images of Barcelona's old center, by the Amarita galsscrafter, interpreted with perfumes created with a palette of natural materials that mirror, the stale corners of Ciutat Vella (Old City).
Somni entre dos mons (Dream between two worlds) - (2018) – Associació Ceramistes de Catalunya – Barcelona
Collaboration of El Jardí Secret® with invisible but noticeable perfumes to reinforce the idea of the hidden of the installation made by the ceramist Esther Ramos i Costa.
La insubmissió de la fortalesa (The insubordination of the fortress) - (2019) – Workshop-Studio El Jardí Secret® – Barcelona
Collective exhibition tribute to the 8M, with the intervention of: Mila Cristobal (Sculpture), Macu Jordà (Painting), Ruth Nadal (Jewelry ), Andrea Rigalós (photography) i Esperança Cases (Perfumery), .
Art Perfum - (2019)Workshop-Studio El Jardí Secret ®– Barcelona
Second edition of this show, In this case focused on creative perfume, to show to the local environment this trade, based on avant-garde experiences and the discovery of the creations of two American craft perfumers.
in RESTORATION - (2019) Handicrafts of Catalunya - Barcelona
The Chroma. Presented the baroque, neoclassic and modernism in architecture, furniture, wardrobe, decoration and attrezzo of the perfume by setting all three periods.
A Propòsit d’unes Flors (On the purpose of some flowers) - (2022 and 2023)
Sala Portal del Pardo . El Vendrell – Berger Forum Balaguer . Vilafranca del Penedès – Morella
Multidisciplinary project based on Mercè Rodoreda's Flors de debò (Reall flowers). with Camilla Perez, master craftswoman and water-colorist, Nati Soler Alcaide Poet, Pep Vinyes Theater Director, Carlota Baldrís composer and myself perfume.
Tiana en Essència (Tiana in Essence) - (2022) – Cultural space – Tiana
Literature, art and dragon is shown as the collection of the perfumed works I have made following Tiana, of synergies with their artists and perfumes that have arisen from literature and legend.
M’Exposo (I expose myself) - (2023) Empremtes de Catalunya – Barcelona
It comes from a misunderstanding and with this informal origin, six perfumes talking about where I come from, of sexuality, how I lick my wounds, about sadness, harassment and I couldn't miss how creation caresses my heart.
Lectures and master classes
Viu en directe l’olor de la mort negra (Live the smell of Black Death) - (2015) – Textile Museum and Documentation Centre Terrassa.
The discovery of some monastic embroideries made us travel to Europe in the s. century devastated by the plague, otherwise known as the Black Death, and discovering curious scents in a dark world that escaped freezing, among other topics , of the evolution of perfumery.
L’Ànima d’un perfum experimental (The soul of an experimental perfume) - (2022) –I Conference on creative and experimental perfume - Tiana
Repetition of the structure of a perfume made with the smell distorted by the COVID, awarded with silver in the United States, shows the complexity of making all phases of a creative perfume, As the basis of initiation.
De la indústria de la perfumeria a l’artesania del perfum (From the perfume industry to the craft of perfume) - (2023) – Badalona Museum
In the tribute to Perfumery Parera (1911 – 1990), a benchmark in the country's perfumery sector and source of my training in synthetic perfumery for industrial consumption, I shared my personal journey., that against all odds, took me on the opposite way: natural perfumery, with the artistic aim and artisan technique.
Passeig per la història de la mà del perfum (Stroll through the history of the hand of the perfume) - (2023) – Creative and experimental perfume days – Tiana
The story is full of not described creations, not identified or not reflected in the notebooks of the great explorers. As part of evolution, inevitably the smells, outside solo or as a result of compositions, have been widely part of this pierced story and full of anecdotes and curiosities.
The perfume of the trees - (2023) – ICreative and experimental perfume rnades - Tiana
Discovery of a great source of fragrant matter from nature that is present in the oldest fragrances on earth and that have lasted until today: the trees. Myths, uses and recognition of some of the rarest and most notorious trees for their contribution to the world of perfume creation.
Training days
Non-profit conferences that were created with the sole purpose of spreading the craft to people with a sensitivity for artisan perfumery , in a personal context or with a view to the craft . Beyond the variety of the program, each year I work with a different artistic group so that they learn the various creative options that artistic perfumery can offer them , in terms of creation and teaching of their own discipline.
Tiana Art Lab - (2022 / 2024) – Conference on creative and experimental perfume -Tiana
Tiana, the cradle of creative and experimental perfumery welcomes another edition that recovers the virtues of the times in experimental fragrant matter., The faded fragrant story and complicity between the music world and the perfume.
Perfum'e Art Lab® - (2023) – Tailor-made training – (Bharat)
Initiation and advanced training for various study groups and professionals.
Bookcase
Who’s Who in Visual Art – 60 Artisans, Craftspeople & Designers – Vol. 2018-2019 – Art Domain Whois Publisher (Book published in English and German)
Pioneering selection of a perfumer, in visual art, for the development of conceptual work in perfume physics.
El Prodigi de l’Alquilaria (The Miracle of Aquilaria) - (2020/21) Listen to the Trees Collection from El Jardí Secret®
Collection of short stories that introduce readers to the essential materials that trees give us, whether real or imaginary.
A propòsit d’unes flors (On the purpose of some flowers) - (2022) Art Land Collection - Ònix Editor
In their pages the watercolors of Camil·la Pérez Salvà , The stories of Nati Soler Alcaide and also find the links to see both the project documentary, as to listen to the musical compositions of Carlota Baldrís. Perfume is there too in a nuance – summary of all the flowers inspired by “in the book titled Real Flowers” by Mercè Rodoreda.
Recognitions
Made’in europe (from 2015 until May of 2024) El Jardí Secret® has been in this European community focused on the exclusive craftsmanship of art.
AIX Scent Fair ( 2016) - El Jardí Secret® has had the privilege of being chosen by the Institute for Art and Olfaction and the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, as an exhibitor occupying one of the 42 booth in the fair of artisan , independent and experimental perfume fair that will represent current perfume in the world , the first to be presented in the context of a contemporary art museum . The only perfumer on the peninsula and one of seven in Europe.
Who’s Who in Visual Art – 60 Artisans, Craftspeople & Designers - Selected for Vol.. 2018-2019 thanks to the work on the conceptual creative perfume carried out.
Academician Specialist in Perfume as an Art Form (2018) Certified as an academic in natural perfume by the IPF Foundation (Paris - Belgium)
Master Artcraft Perfumer (2019) – I had the honor of receiving from the MH President of the Government of Catalonia, Quim Torra, the Master Craftwoman diploma, in recognition of my job.
Special noses and classics (2020) - included in the 33 best noses creating national and international fragrances that operate in Spain according to the VPC Magazine, the oldest and most important in the peninsular perfumery sector, being the first time that a craft perfumer has been recognized (exclusive natural) as a creative nose
Nominations and Awards
Top Artisan Fragrances of the Year (2016) Eua - NU Naturalesa Urbana, (Urban Nature) of El Jardí Secret® has been selected in the silver category in the North American awards with a score of 19 on 21, the first time a foreigner has won this award.
Arts & Crafts Design Award (2017) Germany – El Jardí Secret® nominated for the Arts Award, Crafts and Design International.
Top Artisan Fragrances of the Year (2017) USA - Sari, of El Jardí Secret® has been selected by the jury for the North American awards.
Top Artisan Fragrances of the Year (2018) US - Dona d'Esperit (Spirit Woman), from El Jardí Secret® has been a jury selection in the North American awards with a score of 18 on 21.
The five best artisan perfumes of USA ( 2019) - Petals book of El Jardí Secret®, has been included in the 5 best artisan perfumes of the year.
Top Artisan Fragrances of the Year (2022) USA
- Sense Nom (No Name) of El Jardí Secret®, perfume created with the smell altered by the COVID, win the silver, scoring in the Smell category, Ingredients combination, Artistry of perfume and in the most exciting Discovery.
- Oli sobre tela (Oil on canvas) of El Jardí Secret®, nominated with three stars out of four .
7th International Craft Awards (2023/ 2024) - Nova Delhi - Bharat - Dr. Ghada Hijjawi-Qaddumi Honorary Award for Excellence., received from Ms. Rachna Shah, ministerial secretariat of the government of Bharat and the Mr. Saad Al Qaddumi, actual president el World Crafts Council International.
Top Artisan Fragrances of the Year – 2024 USA– The Circ de Les Belles Arts painting of the Macu Jordá, has been awarded bronze in three categories and silver in three others.
Master Artcraft Perfumer - Crafts Generalitat de Catalunya
Professional member – InSEA - NGO Education through Art and official UNESCO partner
Specialist in natural perfume as an art form
