Collection: CHROMESTHESIA - THE COLOUR OF MY SONG (2013)

Kere’s first foray into abstract photography is an exploration of the phenomenon of Chromesthesia – a form of Synesthesia relating to one’s personal connection to colour.  Chromesthesia is triggered by certain stimuli, in this case Kere’s response to music, not just the colours but also the composition and general imagery certain songs evoke in each individual.

Kere explains: “This is simply how I see music, and view certain songs that hold a powerful personal resonance. This is a glimpse into my ‘mindscape’ and how I experience and feel these landscapes - be they from my past, or a leap forward into a future memory. This is my unique connection, and emotional response. The challenge was creating a snapshot, an overall point in time which captured the essence of the entire song…”

......

ARTIST STATEMENT

This Exhibition, this experience was about being in the moment with the song, the feelings that followed, and the colours and imagery it inspired. Connecting the images in my own head with the Emotion and personal and often deep spiritual bond with a song, or piece of music. This exploration has not been about over-thinking - more experiencing for me, attempting to move away from the everyday order, and rules as they not only apply in life, but in Art, in colour and design. 

The process has been particularly interesting in that when the spark of this idea was first formed, it was a painting collection. As a painter, it’s what I expect to do, and I suppose what is expected from me. The more of myself I put into this, the more real life images were presenting themselves immediately triggering the connection to a song. I initially started capturing the images as a reference for the paintings I planned to create, but soon I was forced to admit that the images were so close to the mindscape in my own head that it begun to feel like a waste of resource and time to try to recreate with a brush what I had inadvertently captured in a camera lens. It was truly a case of when I did leap, the net appeared. 

Even still it took some time to accept that this was very much moving towards becoming a photography based Exhibition – something I’ve never done before, and the irony of my original no plans, no rules concept had come full circle – and presented itself in a medium I simply wasn’t expecting. I haven’t exhibited any photography work since 2010, and prior to that it was only ever the odd piece in a group show. While this is a new and a frightening leap for me as an Artist, I will admit I have a backlog of 20 years+ of Abstract Art photographs, long before I knew anything about Art – Abstract or otherwise. 

 I think as Artists, we are always seeing the beauty, the form, the composition. That’s perhaps the most vulnerable part – that we then share with you how it is we see the world around us, and communicate the things that simply make us stop, the things that take our breath away. It often just grows organically into a collection of it’s own volition. We are often just the communicators of something that is, that was – or could be. 

 The images included in this Exhibition vary greatly. Some are deeply distorted and grainy in ambience. It was my intention to attempt to capture the mood, and the often dreamy nature of my connection to music. Some of the images are sharp and defined focusing on shadow and rejection, rather than the celebration of light. The playfulness I embraced during the process in hindsight must’ve been a sight unto to itself – imagine a strange curly haired woman putting a camera in her shirt to diffuse light, or wrapping to lense in flyscreen to provide another dimension to a shot while laying under street lights. 

 One of my favourite photographic Artists, Cade Turner, likens his own process as his camera being his paintbrush. Cade’s focus on light and blurring the line between Art and photography makes him a pioneer in a time when creativity and technology are allowing Artists to express and explore in a much deeper way than ever before. This Exhibition revealed a lot to me about who I was as both Designer and Artist, and where I fit, what I embraced. My boundless regard and respect for my own Design icons became perfectly clear – I felt music in their work, I felt a personal and spiritual response to their creations. Suddenly my admiration of Julie Patterson (Cloth) Louise Olsen, Stephen Ormandy, Lian Rossler (Dinosaur Designs) and Jennifer Jones (Have you met Miss Jones) made perfect sense. That being said, while this Exhibition is not without thought, it is primarily driven and based on instinct and emotion – and a personal connection to a relevant piece of music. 

It just simply is. 

Where photography is often known for embracing and exploring the light, this collection also explores the darkness. The darkness of our thoughts and our memories are needed as a balance to the light. To explore the dark places where others fear to go, to look directly into the eyes of that which we fear, and those who we were. This collection pays homage to my song, my journey – and those who have shared it with me, and those who will.