The exotic and fantastic creations that are produced by many contemporary artists may lead you to believe that they see the world very differently to just you or me, and the artwork we host here at Art2Arts is no different! The likes of Rumen Dragiev, Mervyn Tay and Stephen Conroy all regularly create vibrant images, much to the joy of our customers that can only come from an unknown source of inspiration. Yet, had you ever considered that some of these artists and other creative minds might genuinely have an incredibly different perception of every day life?
Synaesthesia is a phenomenon that creates a multi sensory experience for those that have it. Due to unusual cognitive function in the brain many words, letters, numbers or sounds may immediately be associated with a colour. Similarly, a particular shade may have a certain smell for some people, and a sound may feel like a texture for a person with synaesthesia.
This extended sensory experience can provide endless motivation, and many well-known performers and songwriters such as Pharell Williams, Lady Gaga and Kanye West are all noted to have this neurological phenomenon. It is also thought that acclaimed artists such as Vincent Van Gogh, Wassily Kandinsky and David Hockney experience life in this exaggerated way.
Although for many artists the process of creating simply comes from the intuition that they feel when approaching the canvas, or whichever medium they have chosen to work with, experiencing the world with synaesthesia can no doubt provide infinite inspiration for the creator, with actions as simple as turning on a stereo bombarding the person with a sea of stimuli.
For those of us who are not subject to such experiences, appreciating abstract art that uses bold marks of colour could help to give us an insight into this incredible human occurrence, with uncontrollable flourishes of colour appearing before our very eyes.
We don’t know if these paintings were created under the influence of synaesthesia, but Turmoil, Impressionist Skyscape by Eunice Friend and Temptation by Rumen Dragiev certainly remind us of the influx of shades that may appear after hearing a very sensory word being spoken, if heard by a synesthetic! Wouldn’t it be great if life was this full of colour all the time?
