Cheveux
Roux

THIRTY DAYS OBSERVING MATTHEW MURPHY'S PHOTO COLLAGES, LITERARY FRAGMENTS, AND STUDIO WORK IN BERLIN

PAINTING

Matthew Murphy is a Canadian painter based in Berlin, working with oils, watercolors, and etchings. His work explores human anatomy through Old Master techniques and Expressionist gestures, depicting dissection as a symbol of inner alienation. In November 2014, Murphy kept a diary using photograph collages—new to his practice. Each entry layered images with literary references: a white Ophelia floating like a lily, a redheaded stepchild, a mendicant with auburn hair. His mother visited with family photographs. He saw Die Zauberflöte. He framed work with reclaimed wood from a Berlin doorway and the hull of an old ship. The month circled around red hair—cheveux roux—and a line from somewhere: "Hey you're so old you must be 23. You spent the year in a drunken frenzy." This diary fragrance is burgundy and pink. Velvet and Spanish Tempranillo. But really: animal accords, cumin, and cistus underneath. A sigh.

"For Matthew Murphy diary, I imagined the smell of a room filled with body odors: flesh, blood, skins rubbing against one another. I crafted a spicy animal accord combining Cumin and Animalis to reflect this animal instinct image. I also added an ambery note of Cistus Labdanum, a resin that comes from a small flower tree growing in the Mediterranean, to place this anatomical scent in a surreal natural setting."
- PERFUMER, Antoine Lie