Storycraft:
Twelve Olfactory Narratives
At IAO Gallery
Produced in collaboration with Craft Contemporary.
On View: Friday, September 26 – Friday, October 31
Link to PDF booklet of exhibition
In the summer of 2025, twelve perfumers were invited to explore storytelling during a residency at Craft Contemporary, in Los Angeles. Every Saturday, an invited perfumer spent six hours exploring a curated set of materials provided by MANE, deploying them to create an olfactory interpretation of a myth, a cultural memory, or an artwork. Sometimes delightful, sometimes troubling, the resulting scents each convey a narrative that can be uncovered with patient, thoughtful smelling.
The IAO is thrilled to present these olfactory explorations in an exhibition at IAO Gallery. Expanding on their work at Craft Contemporary, the perfumers participating in Storycraft were asked to further contextualize their work with an image or small object. The resulting exhibition thus presents their olfactory work in a new context, exploring fundamental questions about scent’s creative capacity. Does scent benefit from being paired with visual and textual forms? How does imagery impact our perception of an olfactory narrative?
Storycraft: Twelve Olfactory Narratives is produced in collaboration with Craft Contemporary, and is exhibited in tandem with the ongoing residency and installation, IAO Storylab at Craft Contemporary on view through October 26, 2025.
Participating Perfumers:
Dana El Masri (Jazmin Saraï)
Daniel Krasofski (The Institute for Art and Olfaction)
Debbie Lin + Na-Moya Lawrence (Samar)
Joe Merrell (The Eyes are Always There)
Julianne Lee (The Institute for Art and Olfaction)
L’lia ‘Tizzle’ Thomas (Aromakaura)
Maxwell Williams (UFO Parfums)
Minetta Rogers (The Institute for Art and Olfaction)
Miss Layla (fum Fragrances)
Persephenie (Persephenie Botanicals)
Saskia Wilson-Brown (The Institute for Art and Olfaction)
Terry Carter (Travertine Atelier)
PHOTOS
About IAO Storylab at Craft Contemporary
The Institute of Art and Olfaction introduces visitors to the rich creative possibilities of scent and craft—facilitated by a curated group of visiting perfumers at the IAO Olfactory Storylab at Craft Contemporary,
Every Saturday, the perfumers were invited to work in the experimental perfume laboratory in the museum’s lobby to create an olfactory sketch that related to a myth, a cultural memory, or in response to a piece in the museum. Materials for the project were generously provided by MANE.
The collaborative project resulted in a collection of 12 aromatic interpretations on display at Craft Contemporary for the duration of the residency, and subsequently exhibited at The Institute of Art and Olfaction.
The IAO Olfactory Storylab is a collaborative program between The Institute for Art and Olfaction and Craft Contemporary, with crucial and generous support from MANE. It is produced in conjunction with Ether: Aromatic Mythologies (curated by Saskia Wilson-Brown), an exhibition of artists working at the confluence of storytelling, identity, and scent.
About Craft Contemporary
Founded as a museum in 1973, Craft Contemporary reveals the potential of craft to educate, captivate, provoke, and empower. With a focus on contemporary art made from craft media and processes, Craft Contemporary presents dynamic exhibitions by established and emerging artists and designers who are often underrepresented in larger art institutions. Craft Contemporary complements these exhibitions with a creative line-up of educational programs, including hands-on workshops led by professional artists. Craft Contemporary cultivates an environment for people in Los Angeles to deepen their relationship to art, creativity, and one another.
About IAO Gallery
IAO Gallery hosts exhibitions from artists working at the intersection of scent and contemporary art. We welcome artists from around the world in collaborative exhibitions that showcase visual art, performance, installation and – of course – scent. Learn more—and view open hours— at artandolfaction.com/exhibitions.