CAN YOU SEE AND PAINT SOUND?
CAN YOU SEE AND PAINT SOUND?
Some of you suggested that the last blog was too long and you couldn’t get to the end of it. That won’t be a problem this time. The painting American Gothic Update displayed in the 2023 gallery is one of the few completed this year. But it does allude to today’s discussion on a subject that has been on my mind for a while. You may recall Nancy Pepper’s comments at the end of the blog: Art, The Language. She states that she too is “a lumper not a splitter”. This reminded me of being awakened one morning many years ago in Providence Rhode Island by colorful triangles and quadrangles floating in front of my face. As consciousness took over I was surprised and delighted to realize that these were the sounds of a neighbor’s dog barking. (As with most insightful altered reality experiences, this one never repeated itself.) The shapes in the green sky in the American Gothic Update painting represent chaotic background sounds as well as depicting the gusting wind.
As my painterself began to re-establish itself I spent 2021 “writing” a book called 2021, The Narrative, in five chapters. The word writing is in quotes because there are no words in the book. Each page is a mini painting or sketch. Chapter 3 contains still lifes. These were setup in a very formal way, using large cardboard boxes to control and simplify the light source. But then things happened. The formality of traditional still life work collapsed. The backgrounds or support surfaces became wavy or heavy. Sometimes they seemed to be like the hum of insects on an August night, or the silent feel of flowing motion. The work glove inflated like a frog's throat, pennants (one of my reappearing symbols) flapted, and the picture with ear protectors seems to shriek sometimes, at least to me. I’ve placed a few of these at the bottom of the WORK page. Even if you find the pictures silent and motionless, you may enjoy seeing them. Just this morning Ravel’s suite for piano Miroirs, Une Barque sur l’ocean played on my car radio. Surely the first few passages invoke visions of sunshine sparkling off gentle waves. It seems the sound-vision connection flows in both directions.
What do you think about this concept of sound in a painting? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Please leave your response in the comment box below. Of course your email message is always welcome.