Synesthesia is a special condition that often causes people to associate one thing with another, i.e. something they hear with something they see.
For instance, Billie Eilish’s song “Bad Guy” can make them see the color yellow while John Lennon’s “Imagine” can make them see purple. Another way synesthesia can work is the person can associate numbers or letters with certain smells or flavors.
It is actually pretty cool and can especially work in someone’s favor if they are an artist. One artist, Missouri-based Melissa McCracken, has synesthesia which makes it so that she sees certain splashes of color when listening to certain songs.
It’s not just songs either. It is all different kinds of sounds that she hears in her everyday life — like someone’s name — that can inspire her colorful and vibrant work.
For songs specifically, different colors can translate the certain melodies she hears. She uses this condition in hopes of documenting the things that influence her every day. She wants to take what she hears and transfer it into something beautiful — something that is completely hers. She wants other people to see and understand what things look like in her world.
The way she developed this skill is remarkable.
She thought that everyone had the same imagination and lived in the same universe of colors up until she was about 15-years-old. What she is essentially experiencing is the “wrong sensation,” according to the artist, but it truly works in her favor.
“Basically, my brain is cross-wired,” she told My Modern Met. “I experience the ‘wrong’ sensation to certain stimuli. Each letter and number is colored and the days of the year circle around my body as if they had a set point in space. But the most wonderful ‘brain malfunction’ of all is seeing the music I hear. It flows in a mixture of hues, textures, and movements, shifting as if it were a vital and intentional element of each song.”
The artist primarily uses oil and acrylic for her work, and each piece exhibits either a clip of a song or something she heard at some point during her day. A chorus in a song can inspire a whole rush of striking color and vivid abstract pieces.
Some songs inspire a big burst in different textures while others remain more subdued. Regardless of all the changes in each painting though, they are all abstract. Even though one painting might look like a specific song to McCracken, the meaning is ultimately up to the eye of the beholder.
She has completed paintings for several different songs, including “Joy in Repetition” by Prince, “Life on Mars?” by David Bowie, “Little Wing” by Jimmy Hendrix, “Imagine” by John Lennon, “Flip” by Glass Animals, “Interlude II” by Soulive, “Tonight, Tonight” by Smashing Pumpkins, “Since I’ve Been Loving You” by Led Zeppelin, “Gravity” by John Mayer, “Callow” by Airhead and “Karma Police” by Radiohead.
Her creations are mind-blowingly amazing, see them for yourself and try to understand McCracken’s gorgeous mind!
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