Scent as Portal: a memory workshop with Claire Sunho Lee and Jon Kempton

Some memories resist being fully seen. They linger at the edges of language, felt rather than seen, sensed rather than said. They return not through images or words, but through sudden waves of unease, tenderness, or recognition. Scent, more than any other sense, has the power to unearth these buried fragments. It collapses time and bypasses logic, transporting us before we can understand why.

In this interactive workshop, artist Claire Sunho Lee and perfumer Jon Kempton (4160Tuesdays) invite participants on a sensorial journey into memory. Through a series of guided olfactory experiences and scent blending exercises, participants will explore how fragrance can stir memory and emotion and give form to the formless.

Each participant will leave with a unique scent composition—a personal distillation of memory, emotion, and imagination.

Please note that this workshop involves exposure to scented materials. If you have chemical sensitivities, respiratory issues, or smell-triggered reactions, please take caution or consult the facilitators in advance.

For any enquiries about this workshop, including accessibility, please email claire.sunho.lee@ucl.ac.uk.

Claire Sunho Lee

Claire Sunho Lee’s practice engages with seeing various meanings within one “reality” by questioning acceptable norms. She sees “normal” as what one knows based on the perspective(s) they have rather than being defined in one way or another. Through the means of rules, logic, and algorithms, she examines psychological complications, human conditions, trauma, and more. Claire received her BFA degree in Photography and Imaging from the Tisch School of the Arts, New York University in 2017 and received her MA degree in Photography from the Royal College of Art in 2021. Her recent achievements include a group exhibition with Photographic Exploration Project, Noorderlicht Photo Festival, V.O Curations and Cromwell Place, features on ArtDoc Photography Magazine, TOFU Magazine, VOGUE Italia and Musée Magazine, grants from the Photoworks x MPB R&D Seed Grants, Grand Prix from IMA-Next, and shortlist from Lumen Prize. She recently gave artist talks at Southbank Centre, hosted by Arts & Health Hub and online hosted by Bethlem Gallery. Claire is currently a fellow of the Jacob Fabrikant Creative Fellowship in Health Humanities 2025/2026 at UCL.

Jon Kempton

Jon Kempton has worked with fragrance and aromas for the last five years. He has been working at 4160 Tuesdays for the Fairy Godmother of independent perfume makers Sarah McCartney has given him the opportunity to explore the more experimental side of fragrance. He has collaborated on projects with artists and musicians to create fragrances for exhibitions and preferences and is particularly interested in artistic applications of scent. Through his long-term experiences as a carer for someone with dementia, Jon also has an interest in scent and memory. He is particularly intrigued by the ability aromas have to keep treasured memories alive and to help unlock forgotten ones.