Movie Monday: Lucy

This evening on my way back home from the perfumery and picking up groceries I stopped by the library to see if I could find an interesting film to watch this evening. Although I was hunting for Kingsman, I quite happily came across Lucy by Luc Bresson.

If you are a lover of sci-fi/ fantasy and french films, like me, you may recognize the name Luc Bresson from "La Femme Nikita" (1990), "The Professional" (1994) or "The Fifth Element" (1997). I picked up the film based on the trailer back in 2014, if I had remembered that Luc was the writer director I would have been even more anxious to see it! What had me since last Spring when I became conscious of the film was the tagline "The average person uses 10% of their brain capacity. Imagine what she could do with 100%."

As you know from reading this blog or my presentation at Bastyr last year or perhaps being one of my students, I am very much into accessing higher realms of consciousness. In my foundation year at Otis Art Institute, freshly and happily out of the confides of Catholic high school, I was a very hard working, focused student with the aim to be a hyperrealist illustrator like Gottfried Helnwein. In order to accomplish this feat I needed to get my drawing skills up which was accomplished by a teacher recommending Drawing From the Right Side of the Brain. That book accomplishment the task of shifting my way of seeing and thus heightening my draftmanship skills and got me super interested in how the brain works, which has stuck with me ever since. Thus the Matrix and Limitless being some of my favorite films of that genre.

Lucy has elements of the two films just mentioned and has subtle connotations to the re-emerging Gnosticism ideas of matriarchal culture. Clearly, Mr. Besson, has a since of this based on his pattern of choosing females as his heroines, particularly in the Fifth Element where

The story begins like a similar hero tale of an unsuspecting human who obtains super powers by accident The difference here is that the human happens to be Lucy, played by the beautiful Scarlett Johansson alongside Morgan Freeman co-starring as a brilliant brain scientist.

I found the film highly entertaining and wish it didn't end so quick! In the meantime I'm still searching for ways of expanding my consciousness. How shall we scent Lucy? Hmm, I'll choose Vespertina, since that is the perfume designed for the super hero who uses about 20% of her brain with the fragrance containing essential oils related to elevated consciousness.

Movie Monday: Mr. Nobody

Mr. Nobody is one of those super happy accidents found via Netflix. The film premiered in Europe in 2009 and stars Oscar award winner Jared Leto as the young adult version of out protagonist Nemo, meaning nobody in Latin.

I was hooked immediately by the glorious eye candy and stellar color script. The sci fi/fantasy/psychological/mind bending aspects kept me completely engaged beyond occasional confusion.

I dived into the film knowing absolutely nothing, which is what I suggest, particularly if your into beauty with a bit of quantum physics and food for your right brain. Some of the things I wasn't super keen on was the make-up on the elderly Nemo, than non-consistent accents and the length. For those of you who need a bit more to go on, I suggest venturing over to this review from the Washington Post describing Mr. Nobody quite perfectly as surrealist poetry.

Screen shots via listal.com.

The Dream Scape

During my first year in art school I discovered the book Drawing from the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards. That book completely shifted the way I "saw" and in turn my drafting skills. These days instead of seeing I am more focused on aroma...but there is a unifying thread. The binding unifier is my interest in the brain, how it works and the possibility of being much more than we perceive and using more of our brain capacity.

Certain books and genres explore these themes brilliantly, one such luminary is Christopher Nolan. Christopher hit the radar with the psychological thriller Memento, although he didn't peek my curiosity until later when we met Wally Pfister through our children. Wally has been Nolan's photography director since Memento.

Our friends took us to the Gold Class Cinema in Pasadena last night to see Christopher's newest film Inception. Like Memento and the Prestige, Inception is a mind bending, psychological thriller set in layers of the dream scape. A genius concept, which like Fringe, taps into science and visionary ideas in the same way that the Matrix did in 1999. Wally's photography direction in Inception is his best ever and might just finally earn him his well deserved academy award.



Although the Matrix is much more in the SciFi arena than Inception both share the idea of simulated realities, action and exceptional visuals. In fact, Inception has raised the bar on film visuals just like the first Matrix film.

Getting back to the brain and the senses, the principal raw material used in authentic botanical perfume is essential oils. These volatile essences have been scientifically proven to have antibacterial and antifungal properties. Marguerite Maury and Rene Gattefosse, the mother and father of aromatherapy, recognized the physiological and physicologial affect of essential oils.

When an essential oil such as Mandarin is inhaled the tiny molecules go up our nose traveling to the lungs and limbic system of our brains. The limbic system, the oldest part of our brain, is our emotional brain. Mandarin essential oil, according the Chapter 13 of Aromatherapy for Bodyworkers, tempers tantrums, depression, anxiety and may assist in clearing out old ideas. I personally use mandarin as one of the ingredients in my evening relaxation essential oil synergies which promotes sweet dreaming.

Drawn to Flora

"Deep in their roots, all flowers keep the light"

—Roethke

A few months ago I came to the realization that I’ve been so focused on perfume and the business of perfume that I had stopped drawing regularly. Thus, I set the intention to pick up the pencil at least once a day and draw.

Almost all the imagery I create has a human interacting with nature in some way. This is where my passion lies and becomes an evident symbiotic relationship in the visual and aromatic arts.

The drawing above is of a complex root system for a tree. In art school, after reading “Drawing from the Right side of the Brain” I became addicted to sketching the intricate folds of the brain. During that first year in college my brother was diagnosed as schizophrenic, which caused me to be even more intrigued by brain function.

Over the years I’ve noticed that complex rendering of intersecting curved lines shows up in my work often. The concentration involved in the drawing these forms relaxes me. I can sit happily for hours drawing, completely oblivious to my surrounding.

I’m not sure where this drawing will go, the root ball is based on a previous drawing for an illustration for the City of Hope Annual Report. The ideas sometimes begin in my minds eye and at other times manifest themselves as I work. In some instances a combination of both. This root ball may be for a magical Celtic tree or a fantastical flower. We will see what kind of journey and outcome the muses intend.

The Right Side

In my first year of art school I decided to read “Drawing From the Right Side of the Brain” to help me master representational drawing. Not only did I read the book, do all the exercises but I became somewhat obsessed with the brain. Concurrently my brother began having challenges with his perception of reality and his brain.

Just now, in my inbox, a friend sent over an really inspirational talk on TED. I highly recommend it, click here.

Image above is a pencil drawing which I then took into Photoshop to add other imagery. PhenoHead © Roxana Villa.