.png)
Painting a Song
By incorporating elements of synesthesia, I create a visualization of music. My hope is to transcend traditional interpretations of experience and to reimagine the familiar. Intended to feel elusive, I invite the viewer to envision the potential of each piece in their own regard, thereby making the final product one of collective consciousness. -Melissa McCracken
See
McCracken loves to paint jazz and says it is profoundly blue and gold in her mind’s eye.
Melissa McCracken- At Last by Etta James
Melissa McCracken- Karma Police by Radiohead
Other artists, some with suspected synesthesia also paint music…
This painting by Piet Mondrian is actually a jazz score
Kandinsky viewed music as the most sublime form of abstract art and believed his paintings could communicate certain sounds. “Color is the key. The eye is the hammer. The soul is the piano with its many chords,” he was quoted saying. My Modern Met Many writings claim that Kandinsky had Synesthesia.
“Composition VII” by Wassily Kandinsky, 1913. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons [Public domain])
Say
Scientific American says that “Synesthesia is an anomalous blending of the senses in which the stimulation of one modality simultaneously produces sensation in a different modality. Synesthetes hear colors, feel sounds, and taste shapes.”
- I experience tastes as shapes. (eg. water is sometimes round some are sharper like triangles (yummy). Do you think you experience any form of synesthesia?
- Synesthesia may be like a superpower allowing the affected to experience the world on multi-dimensional levels. What do you think?
- If you google visual art and music the overlaps are countless. The influence goes both ways. Songs about art and art about songs. Why do you think that might be?
Do
- Watch this interview with Melissa McCracken as she discusses her process and synesthesia.
- Paint to music- Choose some oil pastels or a limited palette of watercolors. Put on a jazz piece or a bold classical piece to inspire you. As you listen to the music let your color and stroke respond to the music. The result will likely be an abstract interpretation of what you were hearing while painting. If you don’t like the final result, perhaps the process was inspiring in some way.
- Read this article about how McCracken experiences the world.
About
Melissa McCracken
Melissa McCracken was twelve years old when she discovered that the way she experiences the world is different from most people. As a synesthete, McCracken has the amazing ability to visualize sounds, letters, and numbers in an array of colors—a gift that lends itself to incredibly dynamic and moving oil paintings. (American Lifestyle)
Melissa McCracken (b. 1990, USA)
melissasmccracken.com Insta: melissamccrack
William Jewell College, Bachelor of Psychology, 2013
I believe that we too often view the world through a singular and narrow lens, only allowing our habitual and empirical experiences to inform our perspective. Through my work, I hope to widen that lens, even if it at the smallest degree.
By incorporating elements of synesthesia, I create a visualization of music. My hope is to transcend traditional interpretations of experience and to reimagine the familiar. Intended to feel elusive, I invite the viewer to envision the potential of each piece in their own regard, thereby making the final product one of collective consciousness.
