Wafting from Andrea Santamarina’s trio of giant ceramic perfume bottles are memories of classic fragrances. Titled “Decadence,” the project, according to Ms. Santamarina, a Madrid-based designer and food art historian, “proposes a redefinition of luxury, not as something based on appearance or mass production, but as something rooted in time, craftsmanship and cultural memory.”
“Decadence” came about when a fragrance collector approached Ms. Santamarina to execute a series inspired by perfume bottles. It was not a commission she would have normally accepted. Her practice, she said, is devoted to reviving Mediterranean ceramics traditions, not in making full-on decorative objects, especially those identified with extreme privilege. But the collector was a family friend. The challenge was to meet the commission with “pieces with cultural and conceptual depth.” What does that mean? You can find out here.