This year at Riga’s second annual Scent + Art Festival (May 6-10, 2026) I was asked to present a keynote lecture to open the festival*. The festival connected over 32 countries and over 100 artists sharing interdisciplinary olfactory art work. During the week I created an installation where I asked people to smell an ambiguous accord and respond with a word or phrase inspired by the scent. This lecture and installation is a continuation of my art and clinical research on the generative qualities of scent.

*Lecture “A Case for Scent as an Artist’s Most Powerful Tool: Scent’s Vital Role in Free Association, Divergent Thinking, and Creativity” by Catherine Haley Epstein

Lecture exploring scent in contemporary artistic practice and its expanding relevance within creative work. It presents key clinical insights into scent’s capacity to enhance imagination, support free association, and foster divergent thinking. The session combines theoretical perspectives with visual material and includes a short guided scent exercise.

Through the Fog of Uncertainty

The festival’s 2026 theme explores living in a time when the future feels unclear and unpredictable.  Shaped by war, shifting values, climate change, and rapid technological change, today’s world can feel unstable. Fog serves as a metaphor for what obscures what lies ahead, making direction harder to find, while inviting us to slow down and attend more closely to the present moment. The exhibition was in a basement which at times feels unfinished, cold and severe one is reminded that during war time this very basement was a source of safety, connection and comfort.