The Fairy Melusine, a collaboration between Opulent Mobility and Aether Arts Perfume. Aquatic, Green, Floral with Lily, Leaves & Green Beans

The Fairy Melusine

A collaboration between Opulent Mobility and Aether Arts Perfume.

The Scent Story

Sometimes social media is good, like when you reconnect with an old friend you haven’t seen for a long time. I happened to come across the art of my friend and former costume colleague, Laura Brody. In addition to costuming and teaching, she remakes mobility devices into works of art. We started chatting and emailing and a collaboration was born.

Laura’s current project is The Fairy Melusine, a figure from medieval French mythology. In the legend Melusine is a fairy in female human form who saved a man after he had accidentally killed a king. She promised him a great kingdom and many fine children provided he have no contact with her one day per week. She lived up to her promise but he did not: spying on her in her bath he was horrified to see her lower body take the form of a fish. When he finally confronted her, she grew wings and flew away, leaving him to die in obscurity.

Laura describes her version of Melusine as being about auto-immune disease, female autonomy, and emotional labor. “I was drawn to Melusine for a few different reasons. First, I'd read about her story and poems written about her in the Byatt novel "Possession", did some research on her, and was struck by the many different interpretations Melusine can have. She's a feminist icon and a demon, a monster and a great queen and mother, as well as being a fairy of another realm. Personally, I was struck by how she embodies emotional labor—she creates worlds for her prince and births his children and builds a kingdom and asks for nothing but some space—and he can't give her what she asks for. In some version of the tales, that proves just how much of a monster she is, because as a monster she has no right to ask for anything and should only be there to provide support. Melusine is built from discards and stuffed full of plastic waste, using an eco-brick principle. Reuse is important to me, and all my pieces are made of reused and repurposed materials.”

Inspired by the myth and the beautiful colors of the sculpture, The Fairy Melusine perfume is an aquatic, green floral. With a nod to her fish-tailed form, an expansive Aquatic Accord references streams and oceans. A sheer, French Lily Accord references Melusine’s femininity and her roles as a woman—mother and queen. Melusine is also associated with agriculture, having supposedly brought the first true Haricot Verts to France. A fun, Forest Leaves & Ivy Accord and a Haricot Verts Accord round out the scent.

Note Structure:
Top Notes: Streams & Oceans
Middle Notes: French Lily
Base Notes: Forest leaves, Ivy, Haricot Verts

Series: No
Perfume Family: Aquatic/Green/Floral
Unisex: Yes
Contains True Animalics: No

If you are interested in viewing more of Laura's work you can find her here:

https://www.opulentmobility.com/om2022.html
www.opulentmobility.com
www.dreamsbymachine.com

Photographs of Melusine by: Heidi Marie Photography
All other images by: AetherArtsPerfume.com