From a very young age, I had a strange gender synesthesia, which caused me to assign objects, letters and numbers a very specific “gender”.  It also translated to musical notes.  For example, the notes C, B and G are considered more “masculine” and the notes A and F are more feminine.

            I wondered if that synesthesia was actually more of a musical language that each person already had.  Much like how symbolism of certain objects, places, and what not change with each person based on their own life experience and reality.

I studied the relation of color and shape with music; specifically classical and jazz.  Certain instruments were assigned colors.  Lines and textures followed suit.  For example, the harmonica showed up as a sort of golden yellow spaghetti-like texture; the lines like the strings on a guitar would flow parallel to each other and create loops and arcs.  The sound of a violin is very particular as well, with the lines appearing to be made of gold.  They had a metallic sheen compared to the harmonica, which were more matte.

            My first piece for this ongoing “Musicology” series is dedicated to jazz.  I experimented by putting on a playlist and freely painting whatever shapes came to mind.  I noticed that with jazz, the backgrounds in which these shapes, lines and textures appeared in my mind’s eye were dark and mysterious.  I then transcribed my experiment into the larger, final piece.

I’ve already conducted an experiment in which I listened to the same song, Mozart’s Allegro Assai, and doodled shapes, lines and textures.  I did this three times, giving myself enough time to rest and clear my head before each session.   At the end of the experiment, I compared the doodles from each session and looked for any recurring motifs.  What instruments, chords or notes did I associate these with?  I’ve made quite a few interesting discoveries so far…. This is certainly not something new, I’m sure Kandinsky’s work is definitely what comes to mind for you, but I’ve been having a blast doing my own research.  I can’t get enough!

Erika Pascual is a Filipino-American artist, illustrator and writer based in sunny Hawaii.  She has a BA from the Academy of Creative Media at University of Hawaii and just recently received her MFA in Comics at the California College of the Arts.  She is currently working on three graphic novels and running her small business, Modern Enchantment, from her home studio.

When not in the studio, you can find her perusing bookshops, researching random things that pique her interest (seriously, you should see how many tabs she has open on her browser), or curled up with some good books.