Anne Patterson: Artist Statement
"I have synesthesia – I see colors and shapes when I hear music, and the smells of spring trigger a play of light in my mind.
"This synthesis of the visual and the auditory allows for a personal connection as my paintings, design and direction immerse the audience sensorially. Within my frames, the brushstrokes depict scenes of reality – the changing seasons, waves, rippling water – but more importantly, their abstraction is my way of inhabiting the realm of personal interpretation.
"My set design and direction also encourage the audience to connect and discover, deepening their experience. I strive to create work that transports them into a multisensory realm – similar to what I've inhabited for my entire life – and deepen their relationship to the beauty around us.
"By combining realistic visuals with color, lighting, projection and sound, I hope to further develop that connection, to allow the work's visual and auditory synthesis to provoke a response which will deepen the meaning of the aria or soliloquy. My goal is to encourage sensory exploration – to hear and feel the crash of the waves, to see the music playing before your eyes – and to have the audience experience art in a new, deeper way."
