My artistic journey revolves around the interplay between visual art and music, where I translate the emotions of diverse musical genres into vibrant abstract paintings. The goal is to bridge these two powerful art forms, intending to elicit emotional responses and provoke contemplation.
Music's unique ability to evoke deep emotions, transcending language and culture, is the primary inspiration for my creative process. As a visual artist, I aim to capture the essence of music by translating intricate melodies, harmonies, and rhythms into a visual language that resonates on a visceral level.
To achieve this, I immerse myself in the music I intend to translate. Despite being a novice musician, I read the music scores, sketched them, and even learned some piano pieces to gain a deeper understanding. Sketching and annotating emotions guide my selection of colors and textures, resulting in a series of paintings that collectively interpret a single musical piece. During the painting process, I used water-based media, and dry media on various surfaces such as wood, metal, or canvas.
In this series, I dissolve the boundaries between sound and color, paying close attention to harmonic and dissonant sounds. The visual translation of harmonious sounds translates easily into a painting with harmonious colors. However, when we listen to dissonant sounds wildly used by composers like Philip Glass and Max Richter, I find that act of painting is freed of all formal pretenses allowing for colors not typically used together.
My approach for this show has been largely intuitive, translating sonic vibrations into a dynamic visual vocabulary. The simplest of music can be visually stimulating when translated into abstract forms, much as I believe music is accepted by our conscience. Additionally, abstract painting provides me the freedom to move beyond literal representation, delving into the subconscious where colors, shapes, and textures meld into the images represented in this show.
Through these paintings, I have blurred the boundaries between sound and painting, inviting viewers to an immersive, visual-audial exploration. By encouraging interpretations and embracing the profound resonance at the intersection of visual art and music, I hope to evoke wonder, inspire introspection, and create a shared experience that transcends artistic boundaries.
-Shany Porras