When abstract expressionist Karen Gozzo Nolan sits down to paint, she puts on music with the emotion of the piece influencing her color palette and the tools she’ll use to render her painting.
The results of this process are on view in the Tranovich Gallerie at Arts Bonita.
“Her work, which is largely inspired by music, is vibrant, incredibly colorful … involves all the colors of the rainbow – and is … a really eye-catching exhibition,” gallery Curator Danielle Branchaud explained in an overview of the exhibition.
Nolan’s process is very private, yet exhilarating and exhausting — in a good way.
“Her artwork is almost a form of synesthesia, so when she listens to a piece of music, she is inspired in ways that she can visualize the colors and the textures and the forms that result on canvas,” Branchaud added.
In the Colbert Questionert, late night television talk show host Stephen Colbert asks guests what song they’d choose if they could only listen to one song for the rest of their lives. In Nolan’s case, it may not be that one song for life, but it is that one song until the painting is completed.
“Each piece is largely inspired by one particular song, which is in the title for each piece as well and gives you an impression of how she processes the music and it’s really very interesting,” Branchaud elaborated.
If you’ve ever wondered what Led Zeppelin’s “Mothership” anthology or Rainbow’s haunting and mysterious “Lady of the Lake” would look like in colors, then “Symphony of Color” is the show for you. The exhibition is on display now through October 24.
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“My paintings are intuitive and emotionally vibrant, painted brightly with the passion of the song,” says Karen Gozzo Nolan in her Artist Statement for the show.
Synesthesia is a phenomenon that causes sensory crossovers, such as tasting colors or feeling sounds. Some people describe it as having “wires crossed” in their brain because it activates two or more senses when there's only a reason for one sense to activate.
“As far as my memory goes, connecting music with color was something I thought everyone did. At different periods in my life, I would paint this connection. Imagine, color, connecting with sound. Creating art professionally has been my dream since childhood. The path to this dream has been rewarding but bumpy.”
There are as many as 70 types of synesthesia, including the ability to see sounds, hear time and taste shapes. However, the most common form involves color.
Some very accomplished musicians have synesthesia, including both Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas O’Connell, Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Pharrell Williams, Mary J. Blige, Charli XCX, Duke Ellington and Franz Liszt.
Based on his letters to his brother, many art historians believe that Vincent van Gogh had a form of synesthesia called chromesthesia—an experience of the senses where the person associates sounds with colors.
Wassily Kandinsky also experienced synesthesia. He once said, “The sound of colors is so definite that it would be hard to find anyone who would express bright yellow with bass notes or dark lake with treble.”
To read more stories about the arts in Southwest Florida visit Tom Hall's website: SWFL Art in the News.