Sylvie Fleury

Aura Soma, 2002

Sylvie Fleury’s interest in fashion or ‘car customizing’ in the 1990s was followed by her concern with esoteric matters. Pendulums, meditation motifs and chromotherapy lamps are all part of her artistic language, and so is Aura Soma, with all its fragrances and colors. Aura Soma consists of 102 little 50 ml bottles, each filled with oils and water, two substances that do not combine. The liquids differ in color, vary in their perfume and are defined specifically by therapists according to the personality of the customer thus forming individual ‘portraits’. Aura Soma can be applied directly to the skin, but also makes an impact because of the rich range of colors. In the minimalist accumulation, bringing Donald Judd’s wall sculptures to mind, that Sylvie Fleury has brought about, reinforced by the magical effect of the lighting, Aura Soma also acquires the character of a living paint palette or a three-dimensional ‘color chart’ in the tradition of concrete-constructive art.