Colour and music 2010/11
The Poem of Ecstasy (2011)
A selection of my paintings inspired by 'The Poem of Ecstasy', the music of Alexander Scriabin.
Although the Poem of Ecstasy is often considered to be influenced by Scriabin's synaesthesia, a condition wherein one experiences stimulus in one sense in response to real stimulus in another sense, it is most likely Alexander Scriabin did not actually experience the physiological condition of synaesthesia. His colour system, unlike most synaesthetic experience, lines up with the circle of fifths, indicating that it was a thought-out system influenced by his theosophic readings and based on Sir Isaac Newton's Optics.
'The Poem of Ecstasy' was on show at the Leith Gallery and the work was a continuation of my exploration into synaethesia. My fascination with this sensory condition began with my exhibition (below) Synaesthesia, which took place in the Union Gallery in Edinburgh in 2010.
A selection of my paintings inspired by 'The Poem of Ecstasy', the music of Alexander Scriabin.
Although the Poem of Ecstasy is often considered to be influenced by Scriabin's synaesthesia, a condition wherein one experiences stimulus in one sense in response to real stimulus in another sense, it is most likely Alexander Scriabin did not actually experience the physiological condition of synaesthesia. His colour system, unlike most synaesthetic experience, lines up with the circle of fifths, indicating that it was a thought-out system influenced by his theosophic readings and based on Sir Isaac Newton's Optics.
'The Poem of Ecstasy' was on show at the Leith Gallery and the work was a continuation of my exploration into synaethesia. My fascination with this sensory condition began with my exhibition (below) Synaesthesia, which took place in the Union Gallery in Edinburgh in 2010.
Untitled, mixed media on board, 15 x 15 cm
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E & G Flat, mixed media on board, 30 x 30 cm
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The Poem of Ecstasy, mixed media on board, 90 x 90 cm
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E Flat & A, mixed media on board, 30 x 30 cm
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Study for the Poem of Ecstasy, mixed media on board, 30 x 30 cm
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Victory of the Spirit, mixed media on board, 15 x 15 cm
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Dream Theme, mixed media on board, 90 x 90 cm
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Translucent, mixed media on board, 60 x 60 cm
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Brass and Harp, mixed media on board, 30 x 30 cm
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Synaethesia (2010)
A selection of paintings from my exhibition inspired by songs by contemporary Scottish artists. Each painting focussed on a particular contemporary Scottish song, which I listened to throughout the entire time I worked on the piece. I would often work on multiple paintings throughout the day and could spend months before a work was finished. I must have listened to each song hundreds of times. At the Union Gallery exhibition opening each painting was numbered and we supplied MP3 players with the correlating songs so viewers could 'experience' the painting with the song that it was inspired by. |
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Admittedly, I'm not a synaesthete and so for this series of works I employed a colour music code created by 19th century Australian artist, Roy de Maistre as a guide to creating my palette for each song. It became a creative exercise in balancing my subjective interpretation and emotional response to the song with de Maistre's quasi-scientific colour music code.
Harry's in Heaven, mixed media on board, 122 x 122 cm (Music by Martyn Bennett)
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Swim Until You Can't See Land, mixed media on board, 61 x 61 cm (Music by Frightened Rabbit)
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Composition 6, mixed media on board, 30 x 30 cm
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Country Girl, mixed media on board, 61 x 61 cm ( Music by Primal Scream)
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Milk, mixed media on board, 91 x 91 cm, (Music by Garbage, Shirley Manson)
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She's Coming Down, mixed media on board, 122 x 122 cm (Music by Elkin)
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Swim Until You Can't See Land 2, mixed media on board, 61 x 91 cm (Music by Frightened Rabbit)
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Hold On 2, mixed media on board, 91 x 91 cm, (Music by KT Tunstall)
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Who's Got A Match, mixed media on board, 61 x 91 cm (Music by Biffy Clyro)
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