Synaesthdunia

Music: RavenDues by Gecko Temple
https://youtube.com/user/zenrender

This is based on a chromesthesia (sound to colour/shape synaesthesia) experience I had while seeing Dune in IMAX. Hans Zimmer's soundtrack got my crossed wires all deliciously lit up, and some parts of his audio landscape became visual/sensual. Seeing/feeling circular, three dimensional shapes, shifting against each other, seen on the mind's projection screen, and felt in the gut like the body itself was shape-shifting to match those forms. It is ecstatic, and when I became aware that my eyes had rolled, I marveled at the mirroring/matching of the shapes of the eye with the shapes of the vision I was experiencing.
Like the dunes of a desert, or the landscape of a bronze artifact, or looking from space at the curvature of a planet, or like looking at an eye. Patterns laid atop each other. Are they made of wood, or metal, or light? Or all three?

This is actually the first time I've externalized one of those experiences. I'm not sure why I haven't before. I think maybe because I experienced this one so loudly, it was a really high-intensity vision and it wanted to come out.

I had started this painting a while ago, got as far as the beginning of this video, and hit a wall. I had the basics laid out, but then didn't dig in. To respect the experience, and represent the image well, I needed to depict movement and three dimensionality, and I frankly was not confident that I could pull it off, so I walked away from the easel and didn't come back until today.
I'm back today because over the last few days I've had conversations with friends about art, and have been catching myself saying "the wise old artist words", and then thinking "yeah, CLAIRE, why don't you take your own advice?

So when my eyes next fell on the painting, I automatically started looking for the shapes. Instead of letting something else take my attention, like I normally would, I let it absorb me. Warm up, try this, try that, nope? Ok break. Round two, fresh eyes are always best. I made peaks and valleys, curves and shadows. I used my favourite palette knife, enjoying the drag of colours, and the sensations of slickness and scraping. My hand slips more than it used to, and I was annoyed at my imprecision, but chose not let that steal my focus. I realized I was stopping myself from using a brush because... why? Because somebody's going to judge me? Whatever, use the brush. It makes sense anyway, because not all of those surfaces in the vision had the same texture, so why should my painting conform rigidly to one surface? Do as you please.

And so I did. And I am pleased.