Home Pharmacy, designed by textile practitioner Elena Brebenel, is an interactive and decorative wall hanging infused with essential oils. This cleverly designed home decor kit aims to reconnect us to a healthier and happier home, destressing us and encouraging us to enjoy more haptic moments in the midst of the chaos and havoc we can encounter in our daily lives. Want to know more about this innovative project? Here's all you need to know.
Home Pharmacy Allows You to Switch Paper Petals That Have Essential Oils
Designer Elena Brebenel created the project as an interactive tool built to raise awareness about improving the air quality of homes. The aromatic plants lavender, peppermint, and daisies are among some of the ones she used on the non-woven linen wall hanging. Each Home Pharmacy contains paper cutouts shaped like plant leaves and petals that have been infused with peppermint and lavender oil. The fragrant petals are slotted into place using tabs in the paper petals.
Brebenel got the idea for the project after seeing how blue-tit birds put fragments of these plants in their nests to protect their young from pathogenic bacteria and parasites. The wall hanging is intended to be hung at home and augmented in the same way that blue tits construct their nests. Once the essential oils have evaporated, the paper cutouts can be re-infused with essential oils which makes this the key part of this project. How cool is this? Run out of the delicious smell of the infused oils? No worries, Elena makes it easy for you to replace with paper petals! So, how do these plant-based textile hanging walls actually work?
Understanding How the Paper Petals Work
Working with bioinspiration, which is the development of novel materials that are informed by existing biological systems, Brebenel used her own textile practice to create the project. Because she is a textile designer, the action was informed by the textile craft technique of weaving. As a result, participants take one of the leaf- or petal-shaped fragments of paper impregnated with essential oils, and find where they belong on the wall hanging, then weave them in.
Elena sees this project as a reflection of the action of the blue-tit bird placing plant fragments into the nest when she inserts the leaf-shaped or petal-shaped fabric and paper cut-outs into the pre-prepared slots on the wall hanging. The loose fabric and paper cutouts that represent petals and leaves are individually packaged and can be easily re-infused with oils once they have evaporated. Allowing your senses to relive the story Elena so beautifully depicts in her artwork.
Essential Oils for a Purified Home
In this case, Elena Brebenel made sure to choose two types of herbs that have various health benefits. Lavender and peppermint essential oils offer various benefits when used at home. Lavender oil can promote relaxation and reduce stress, aiding in better sleep quality. It also has mild analgesic properties, making it useful for alleviating headaches and muscle tension. Peppermint oil can help with mental alertness, soothing digestive issues, and providing a refreshing aroma in your living space. Both oils have antiseptic properties, making them valuable for natural cleaning solutions, and they can be used in aromatherapy or as natural fragrance options for a pleasant home environment.
More About Elena Brebenel
Elena Brebenel is a textile artist and designer who is interested in investigating the intersections between art, craft, and design, through a highly experimental and research-driven practice. In her most recent project, she explores the possibility of developing bio-inspired textile artifacts that raise awareness about the health of our home environment, with a focus on air quality.
The studio practice prior to her current project is characterized by the same experimental and interdisciplinary approach. This work consists of textile objects and installations, a combination of fabric and paper, and investigates the theme of memory through an exploration of place and the coded language of maps.
A fabulous idea for a more purified home while having the visual appeal of plants hanging on your walls!
Photos by Cristina Schek.
