Sonitus Luminis (Metanoia VI) Painting

Like previous paintings in the series, 'Sonitus luminis' describes a transitional state between new and old modes of being, when one is suspended in a void, struggling with uncertainty and turmoil. A similar limbo is also found in the gap between figurative and abstract art - a place where my work has always been delicately balanced. I entitled this new piece 'Sonitus luminis', which means "the sound of light" in Latin, after my investigations into synaesthesia. Synaesthesia is a neurological condition that results in a joining or merging of senses that aren't normally connected. One common version of this is known as chromesthesia, which is the experience of sound as colour. This is particularly common among musicians, including Pharrell Williams, Duke Ellington, Stevie Wonder and Tori Amos. I had synaesthesia when I was younger, but as I grew up it slowly faded away. It has started to come back recently however, after I increased my daily meditation practice (more on that below). I'm in good company too - David Hockney and Vincent Van Gogh are also famous synaesthetes. As I went further down the rabbit hole in my research, I found out that at high enough frequencies, sound turns into light waves. Sound actually does have colour! Each note from A to G can be plotted along the colour spectrum based on its frequency. This amazing fact means you could technically call me a musician too Synaesthesia is thought to occur when there are higher levels of neuronal connections in certain areas of the brain. Meditation has been proven to increase these types of connection. During meditation, the default mode network, which is your brain’s normal mode of thinking, is quietened. This allows the brain to 'think outside the box' and form new connections. In fact, the title of this series of work, Metanoia, is Greek for "changing one's mind".