Pencils & Perfumes 鉛筆と祈りと香水―香りの世界と出会う場所

For many years I have been making Olfactive drawings. I smell perfumes and let the scent transport me into a world of shapes and colors – I have been using scent as a vessel for years. At one point I felt that – instead of smelling only perfumes that I had bought in a perfumery- it could be an adventurous journey to find out if I could express myself through scent. That’s when I decided to dive into the world of scent creation.

Annindriya is a new, refined and exclusive niche perfume house from Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Founded by Tanja Deurloo, perfume designer and owner of the niche perfume boutique Perfume Lounge, this new brand combines both her long-time expertise, her love for fragrance and the joy to collaborate with upcoming and established perfumers. I was very honored when Tanja expressed her interest in one of my olfactive creations.

On 18th April 2024 Annindriya celebrated the launch of a collection of 5 new perfumes, all carefully curated by Tanja Deurloo. The perfumes all smell very distinctive and are created by 5 perfumers. The perfumes are :Orris Soyeux by Francesca Bianchi, Seek Wood by Spyros Drosopolous, Tipsy Tuberose by Meabh McCurtin, Vetyver Rain by Master Perfumer Christope Laudamiel and Walk With Me by Chester Gibs.

Walk with Me by Annindriya is an invitation to travel and create memories.

A Sensory Tryptych: The Perfume, The Art Installation & The Scent translation into Drawing

Walk With Me the perfume : A journey from dense green to yellow and Gold.

I was very grateful when in 2022, Tanja encouraged me to assist Christophe Laudamiel for a few weeks in his NY lab. Imagine how nervous I was when I let Christophe smell 2 rough versions of perfumes I had created- one of which was the one that made it into the Annindriya collection. I love the smell of keffir lime leaves – so this is an ingredient that I wanted to work with, also because -for me- it represents my Indonesian roots. You could say that like in my drawings, it is important to express my identity in scent too.

Keffir lime leaves: a citrus scent with green spicy aspects

Making perfume is such a different craft from making drawings; I know my materials when I draw, I know their effects. with scent creation I have so much to still learn. Perfume making confronts me with my chaotic personality, and challenges me to be precise and organized. So assisting in Christophe’s lab definitely helped me find way as how to be less chaotic, how to smell materials and experiment with them. For that I am very thankful – its has opened a door to another world full of creative possibilities.

Christophe, Tanja and I during a midnight smelling session.

How does one describe a perfume, something you can’t see? In fact, with scent , one has to smell it before one can tell it. But I’ll give it a try! Walk With Me the perfume is a journey from zesty dense green Forests to creamy beaches dripping in golden coconut juice.

Notes: Kaffir lime leaves, ginger, pink pepper, coconut , Ylang Ylang, cardomon, vanilla , leather, patchouli ,vetiver,musk . Walk With Me, is full of contrast and movement: cool, green, citrus contrasted with warm, creamy tones. In this extrait de parfum, we find duality and contrast, just as we do within ourselves. Take my hand and Walk with Me.

Walk With Me the drawing: pencils,ink,gouache & watercolors on paper 60x50cm; A warm embrace under a gate of colorful lush shapes: a kiss on the head. The gate on the drawing consists of two parts, green, yellow ,blue and white-the colors represent the green feeling, slightly tropical. Never had I imagined I’d be using my own perfume ‘Walk With Me ‘ designed for house of Annindriya as a vessel into my visual world on paper .

This was quite exciting; scent is subjective, especially when it’s been created by myself. Once I had finished the formula for my debut perfume Walk With Me, I started smelling it again and I listened to the colours of the fragrance. I selected my pencils and paint and started drawing. Visualizing the invisible, visualizing feelings triggered by the perfume. A postcard size reproduction of the artwork is included in the stunning blue box designed by @joostlahousse that houses the perfume .

Walk With Me the interactive art installation: A smelling station where visitors to the Annindriya launch event could touch and smell a selection of the ingredients from the perfumes such as Ylang Ylang ,Kaffir lime leaves ( the star ingredient in the perfume), coconut & cardamom. A spotlight with cool green light was placed in the cube-shaped room to highlight the green facets of the lime leafs that I placed on the concrete floor, they formed a path from the smelling station to the framed artwork.

Christope Laudamiel inspecting the smelling station with a visitor

Glass Gloches sprayed with the diluted raw materials were placed over circle cut-outs taken from the drawing, I placed each gloch over a circle that most corresponded with the colors. Vistors to the Annindriya event were invited to smell the raw materials .They could also spray the perfume on a smelling strip and listen to it carefully while observing the artwork. Could they smell the colors ? Does smelling influence your perception of the artwork? Does your focus on the visual change when one smells while observing with one’s nose and mind?

Photography by Tahiri Douri, Ronald van Schepen and Renee Visser.

Annindriya is a new, refined and exclusive niche perfume house from Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Founded by Tanja Deurloo, perfume designer and owner of Perfumer Lounge, this new brand combines both her long-time expertise, her love for fragrance and the joy to collaborate with upcoming and established perfumers.Get your favorite Annindriya perfumes here and here!