I first learnt about Synaesthesia at college; while researching for some design thesis topic for my final year of bachelors in architecture. Though intrigued and excited by it, the teachers discouraged me from taking it up for my thesis. Primarily, I guess, because of inadequate information available on the topic then – the era before the advent of the internet! However, it remained on my mind vaguely, as a study that scientists had made and that associates the sound of various musical instruments with colours...

Synaesthesia is medical condition that results in “the production of a sense impression relating to one sense or part of the body by stimulation of another sense or part of the body.”

Mellisa McCracken – an US-based visual artist who has grown up with Synaesthesia, puts it forth more clearly. The rare neurological condition which causes the brain to confuse certain sensory stimuli and process them differently enables Melissa to “see” the colour and shape of the notes of music! This cross-wiring of neurological responses makes her experience music in a way normal people never can! However, being an artist herself she is able to “paint the music she hears”; so, for her differently wired brain, the guitar’s tunes are golden and angled, while the piano has a more marbled and jerky tune due to the chords.

Synaesthesia affects people in various ways. Some people see what they smell, or hear shapes. For McCracken, music is interpreted as colours - a rare gift that complements her talent for abstract paintings.

Using palette knives and brushes Melissa converts her musical images and interprets them with swirls and dabs and blobs and swishes of colours! The rich layered colour-patterns evoke in the viewers' mind different perceptions of melody and rhythm. 

As a synaethete, Melissa explores the masked areas of the world we see; and shares her unique experiences through her paintings. “I paint music. Until I was 15, I thought everyone constantly saw colours. Colours in books, colours in math formulas, colours at concerts. But when I finally asked my brother which colour the letter C was (canary yellow, by the way) I realized my mind wasn't quite normal.”

To put it simply, Melissa’s brain is cross-wired. “I experience the ‘wrong’ sensation to certain stimuli. Each letter and number is coloured and the days of the year circle around my body as if they had a set point in space. But the most wonderful ‘brain malfunction’ of all is seeing the music I hear. It flows in a mixture of hues, textures, and movements, shifting as if it were a vital and intentional element of each song. Having synaesthesia isn't distracting or disorienting. It adds a unique vibrancy to the world I experience.”

Lucky for us mere mortals, who can then enjoy the music through Melissa’s cross-wired and unique perceptions!