A Palette of my Inner Universe – To Use Synesthesia in Artistic Processes

Abstract: In this thesis, the author investigates how the active use of synesthesia can be a tool for artistic work and creative processes, with the aim of finding new creative paths and to find a deeper understanding for inner synesthetic patterns. A method is created by using elements from the author’s synesthesia. The method is used on three experiments regarding lyrics, improvisations and graphic scores together with one final experiment that also encompasses composition. In the final experiment, the elements are used as a source of inspiration rather than definite directives with the intention to reach a more organic form of creating, closer to the author’s regular artistic process. This becomes a method of its own, called the synesthetic method. By adding painting throughout the investigation, the author aims to make something as abstract and subjective as synesthesia more visual and tangible, with the belief that it will help visualize and clarify, both for themselves and others, inner processes of inspiration.