Eaux de lieux et 

abstractions textiles 

par Mikael Vilchez

from 15.02.26 to 15.05.26

Epicerie de Chandolin
Route des Plampras 4, 3961 Chandolin, VS SWITZERLAND

Chandolin Embaume Cœur is a sensory, olfactory and textile journey born from this specific place, where walking, light, scents and colours act as a discreet form of care. Here, to embalm means to retain, protect and preserve fragrances, as one would safeguard a memory for eternity.

The works are textile pieces in which material enters into dialogue with imagery, whether embroidered, printed or drawn. Certain figurative elements dissolve into relief and texture, making the reading more abstract and contemplative. The textile ceases to be a mere surface and becomes an inner territory where the eye lingers and the nose settles, extending the experience into an olfactory dimension.

Each work is accompanied by its own high concentration artisanal eau de parfum, given to the collector together with the piece. The fragrance may be worn on the skin or sprayed onto the artwork, depending on gesture and intention. Visitors may also acquire lighter eaux de lieux, conceived as a first encounter with these scents.

At the heart of the project are six conifers from Chandolin, surrounded by notes of bergamot, leather, cacao, amber and woods: the discreetly elegant Swiss stone pine, the white fir with unexpected citrus facets, the familiar spruce, the dark and virile black pine, the Scots pine with marine accents at altitude, and the larch, a fragile king that sheds itself in winter before being reborn in spring.

Responding to these trees is Immortelle, a sovereign with a thousand facets, honeyed, animalic and floral, accompanied by iris, osmanthus and cardamom.

The exhibition also has an educational dimension. It invites visitors to learn how to recognise conifers by their scent, so that during a walk in Chandolin the experience can continue beyond the exhibition space. In this way, art, olfactory memory and sensory learning meet in a silent dialogue between body, landscape and matter.