Scribing sound onto surface

Synesthesia - The experience of one sense (like hearing a sound) triggering a simultaneous perception of another sense (like seeing a colour).

I did not know about the term ‘Synesthesia’ until I was 17. I remember the day I discovered it was a ‘thing’; I was mind-blown. I thought it was just an involuntary human experience that everybody shared. For the first few months after, I felt hyper-aware and disoriented, like my perception of the world had changed. I was now conscious of this part of me that I never really paid much attention to before. I now view Synesthesia as a beautiful part of me that allows my senses to hold hands with one another.

I have been exploring how I can depict the colours and shapes that I see when I hear sounds onto surfaces, and have now drawn songs in their entirety with my eyes closed and painted albums by dissecting each instrument and layering sonic elements over one another as I hear them.

Diary entry from one of my very first experiences painting an entire album:

My earphones are in, there’s paint on my hands, and my heart is open wide. Music fills my ears and weaves its way into my mind’s eye; I see it clearly - a world of colour, shape, and life. I let the music channel down my shoulders and through my hands, until it reaches the very tips of my fingers and forms itself onto the canvas.

‘Conveyor belts of fuzz and scratch from guitar tones spin anticlockwise. Fizzy green riffs orbit above and below the plane.’

‘Her melodies and harmonies lay inside of glowing white ribbons. They ripple and unfold as she sings.’

What’s in my palm? - 2025 - acrylic, coloured pencil, soft pastel on canvas- 36”x38”