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The Wednesday Journal of Cultural Insights.
Home Pharmacy is an interactive and decorative wall hanging piece infused with essential oils designed by textile practitioner Elena Brebenel.
This cleverly designed home decor kit aims to help us to reconnect to a healthier and happier home, destressing us and encouraging us to enjoy more haptic moments amongst the chaos and havoc we can encounter in our day-to-day lives.
Utilizing a bio-inspired approach, Home Pharmacy was created after Elena felt inspired by the ways in which animals manage to maintain a healthy habitat.
This particular piece was inspired by the behaviour of the blue tit [Cyanistes Caeruleus] female bird in its natural habitat.
These birds protect their chicks against pathogenic bacteria by placing in their nests’ aromatic herbs such as lavender, yarrow daisy, and apple mint as they are known for their antimicrobial characteristics.
Home pharmacy is a kit comprising of a beautiful wall-hanging piece designed by Elena and fabric and paper cutouts impregnated with lavender (Lavandula officinalis) and peppermint (Mentha piperita) essential oils.
The interaction element of this unique project involves inserting the leaf-shaped or petal-shaped fabric and paper cut-outs into the pre-prepared slots on the wall-hanging, Elena sees this as a reflection of the action of the bird placing plant fragments into the nest.
The loose fabric and paper cutouts representing petals and leaves come packed individually and can be easily re-infused with oils once they evaporate. Letting your senses re-live the story Elena so beautifully conveys in her art.
Aside from the intriguing and poetic storytelling, Home Pharmacy inspired us for its sensorial, bio-influenced, low-tech approach to wellbeing amongst a sea of highly technical and digital gadgets we see pouring onto the market.
Elena Brebenel is a textile practitioner who is interested in investigating the intersections between art, craft and design, through highly experimental and research-driven practice. Prior to this project, Elena’s work is characterized by the same experimental and interdisciplinary approach.
Photo credits: Cristina Schek
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