This unique work by Johan Creten is a beautiful example of the emblematic and poetic series entitled "Odore di Femmina". The work is inspired by Mozart's opera Don Giovanni, it embraces seduction and subversion while highlighting the complexity of human relationships.
"On Creten’s torsos covered in roses, odor becomes a distant reference; a sensation alluded to by metonymy, displacement and substitution. The warm fragrance of flowers becomes the metallic sheen of ceramics; the enveloping wash of their perfume is suggested by the organic undulations of the day petals. Odor is absent from his work, but Johan Creten reconstructs it through a delicate and malevolent play on associations.
Creten is attracted by the subtle, etheral power of odors, but he also delights in the physical pleasure of submerging his hands in clay and shaping it into sculpture. He likes the potential of uncertainty during the firing process which will affect the color of his pieces. He adores those masses without heads, hands or feet; they are nothing but bodies covered with flowers. He exploits all the connotations of sensual liberation concealed by the word “body” by building a solid block, a capsule of flesh, sensations and odors. His works are fragile and heavy, appearing delicate but yet potentially injurious if one attempts to hug them. They are exactly like the way one breathes, like life which draws us towards others or drives us away from them, like the undefinable sensation of an aroma which allows an approach or enjoins a departure. They urge an uncharted journey through the significance of feelings." – Rosa Martinez