As a 2023-24 Color Lab Faculty Fellow, Timothy Veske-McMahon (Associate Professor, Jewelry + Metalsmithing) explored fugitive pigments and dyes—colors that fade or transform over time. His work, featuring large-scale automotive air fresheners, evokes a desire for renewal while signaling lingering effects—whether stale, rotten, or mysterious. Through hues that shift and lighten under UV exposure, these pieces highlight the impermanence of histories, identities, and environmental connections as they fade and transform.

Placed within the academic space, the installation invites viewers to reflect on the role of institutions in preserving—or neglecting—cultural memory. It challenges us to reconsider how we engage with and acknowledge our histories, suggesting that fading color, like a dissipating scent, becomes a metaphor for loss, distance, recognition, and the call for renewal.