※ Herbal Extractions and Embodied Absorption

Context

Late October–early November 2025.

This phase focused on herbal extractions in multiple forms—tinctures, infused oils, salves, kolonia, and layered aromatic blends—developed for both scent projection and embodied research.

The experiments intersected directly with my butoh practice. Rather than using plants symbolically, I approached them as collaborators: materials whose chemical presence and volatile compounds actively shape attention, posture, breath, and spatial awareness.

The guiding question:

What happens when plant matter inhabits the body—chemically, sensorially, and intentionally?

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Extraction Work

Parallel preparations were produced using:

• Alcohol tinctures (6–10 week macerations)
• Low-heat oil infusions
• Solar infusions
• Beeswax salves
• Kolonia-style aromatic waters
• Resin dissolutions and layered recombinations

Botanicals included patchouli, jasmine, lemongrass, mugwort, rose, bay, lavender, and various resins and roots. Materials were selected for aromatic persistence, somatic impact, and movement-affect relationships rather than strict correspondence systems.

Each batch was logged with ratio, solvent, duration, and temperature.

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Studio Testing (Solo)

Applications were tested through:

• Skin absorption (pulse points, sternum, lower back)
• Inhalation during stillness
• Diffusion in enclosed studio environments
• Pre-movement and mid-practice reapplication

Observed effects:

• Changes in muscular tone (particularly jaw, hips, diaphragm)
• Altered breath depth and pacing
• Increased tolerance for sustained stillness
• Subtle shifts in balance perception
• Emotional texture changes (grounding, volatility, softness)

Certain resin blends produced density and downward pull. Florals amplified sensitivity and subtle tremor. Bitter-root preparations altered posture and grounded the pelvis.

Movement became slower to initiate but more internally articulate.

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Testing with Butoh Practitioners

Select preparations were shared with friends and fellow butoh practitioners during informal studio sessions.

Testing conditions included:

• Shared movement practice
• Silent co-presence
• Sequential scent introduction
• Direct skin application (with consent)
• Environmental diffusion in rehearsal space

Feedback centered on:

• Perceived changes in time perception
• Increased micro-movement
• Shifts in interpersonal spacing
• Heightened awareness of breath and sound
• Emotional memory activation

Several participants described the oils as “viscous” or “weight-bearing.” One resin blend was described as “structural,” altering the feeling of verticality.

No effects were treated as universal. Variation across bodies was notable and important.

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Radical Empathy Inquiry

This phase examined empathy not as projection but as permeability.

When plant compounds enter circulation—through skin, breath, or ingestion—there is literal chemical exchange.

Questions that emerged:

• What does it mean to host plant matter inside one’s tissues?
• Where does agency sit in shared metabolism?
• How does absorption change perception of self-other boundaries?

Rather than aestheticizing the plants, the work asked what they do.

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Environmental Impact

Preparations were also tested as atmospheric modifiers.

In enclosed spaces:

• Sound perception shifted.
• Light appeared more diffuse.
• Social proximity patterns changed.
• Stillness deepened.

Scent operated as an invisible spatial architecture.

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Performance Relevance

These experiments are feeding into:

• Pre-performance somatic calibration
• Environmental preparation for audiences
• Ritualized movement entry protocols
• Recovery and grounding supports

They function as embodied scores embedded in material form.

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Ongoing Questions

• How do repeated exposures change long-term movement vocabulary?
• Do certain botanicals reliably influence endurance?
• Can biometric data correlate with subjective reports?
• What seasonal shifts affect extraction potency?
• How do collective bodies metabolize shared scent differently?

This remains open research.

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Notes

All experiments prioritize safety, consent, and reversible engagement.

This is not product development.

It is embodied research into how material, plant, and body co-compose experience.