Philippa Stanton is a local artist who also happens to be a Synesthete which means that Philippa can see sound in shape and colour where others can only hear it, allowing her to create unique portraits of people’s voices.
In her own words:
“Synaesthesia is a merging of the senses. I merge vision and sound, mostly, for my paintings, but arrays of textured, colourful shapes also accompany every taste, smell and tactile feeling I experience. They don’t intrude on my day to day seeing; only enhance my inner abstract vision. I can choose to visit these forms deeply or just have them peppering my inner mind.”
Philippa believes we are all born synaesthetic but lose the capacity to acknowledge or appreciate it as we become adults. Being synesthetic has helped her retain a passion for the world in all aspects of her life. Her voice portraits draw directly on her synaesthesia and offer a vivid, emotional and personal impression of her combined audio-visual response, particularly with the spoken word. They are compelling, colourful and exciting, offering a unique insight into a synaesthetic perception.
Phillipa is currently working on taste paintings for the Open Houses in Brighton in May. She is painting a series of the tastes and aromas, which she will be presenting at State of Mind, and will be getting people to try and guess which taste corresponds to which painting. She has already tried this on a few people and they’ve been getting them right which is very encouraging!