Where Edges Meet
2023
Meyerhoff & Decker Galleries
Maryland Institute College of Art - Masters of Fine Art in Studio Art
The Class of 2023 cohort proudly curated and exhibited their thesis work after getting to the fourth year of their MFA Studio Art program. This select group of artists embodies interdisciplinary exploration and multimedia approaches to studio practices. Simons focused on conceptual process based drawing while also analyzing her own experience with synesthesia to incorporate in her work.
Synesthetic Annotations.
Synesthetic phenomenon is a unique sensory overlap. Personally, my synesthesia correlates to auditory processing through visual effects of color and mingles with spatial relations. Sound becomes color. I incorporate my experience as someone going through this world with synesthesia, in this body of work by addressing a variety of auditory information and visual representation with drawing as my language.
In my explorative work, gestural line is a communicative tool void of traditional scripture and verbiage through mark making as a method of record keeping. Line exists as a constant interest in my practice, and I am fascinated by the concept that there are no lines in nature. Lines do not exist.
Intentionally creating line to note organic auditory prompts creates a visual record that becomes the final artwork. The process becomes the work itself. I explore gestural line work in communication with my synesthetic experience.
pianissimo
2023
Pen on paper, graphite.
This composition notices the mundane. Everyday sounds with minimal importance. Small gestures can whisper with intention. These works are gestural representations of routine, mundane sounds.
Notes from AA
2023
Pen on translucent paper, acrylic ink, other.
Human voices activate my synesthesia. A routine and important part of my life involving human voice is Alcoholics Anonymous. Mindfully attentive to the color experience, I translated my auditory to visual response while in AA. Silence is loud. Redaction creates a void. Absence of sound is present in these works through reductive methods interrupting the combination of color and gestural mark making response to leave a noticeable void. Conversations generate these pieces that translate into color and line.
Linear Iteration: Beethoven, select
2023
Graphite, acrylic ink, acetate, light, sound, pencil shavings, other.
Music activates synesthesia with energy and clarity. Conductive dance produced graphite marks directly to the gallery walls for a site-specific installation. This response to 48 Beethoven pieces is overlayed with colored light to represent my synesthetic response. The classical soundtrack plays in this installation for viewers to experience auditory input as part of the whole work.