Synaesthesia Drawings of the sounds of Luxembourg Garden
Synesthesia Drawings of Luxembourg Gardens (2023-ongoing) gouache and sumi ink on murillo
Synesthesia Drawings of Luxembourg Gardens are sensory recordings of the sounds within the gardens—laughter of children at play, the rustle of picnickers unwrapping lunches, the crunch of gravel underfoot, the flutter of newspapers, birdsong, the wind weaving through leafy trees, the sound of a horn, the drift of cigar smoke, and the subtle textures of footsteps on stone. These drawings capture the ambient orchestration of a living symphony, where natural and human sounds intertwine, leaving ephemeral yet vivid imprints on paper.
Each mark, in both color and shape, corresponds precisely to a specific sonic cue. For Schwartz, sound moves through space in three-dimensional mobiles of color and form. She describes her process as “butterfly-netting” the most beautiful-looking sounds and pinning them to paper, preserving their fleeting presence in static form.
Additional synesthesia series emerge from the sensory experiences of Chopin’s Nocturnes, the voices of Alan Watts, Oliver Sacks, Richard Feynman, James Baldwin, and the music of Mozart.
