These images are abstract visual depictions of how five Andrew Bird songs feel and look in my mind. Since childhood, I’ve always had this strange ability to see sounds and feel music in different parts of my body - often in ways that cannot really be communicated through words or even images. In my head, my musical visuals are always moving. Bursts of light explode like fireworks, waves of color push and pull behind my eyes, abstract shapes and distant memories intertwine to create striking perceptive symphonies. The process of capturing intangible, perpetually moving visuals that only exist in my brain proved to be a really difficult task, especially with the confinement of translating them into still images.

The pieces themselves are ordered based on the emotions they convey. We begin with “Lull” and end with “Armchairs”. The first two songs depicted have more joyful personal memories attached to them, vivid colors with an air of curiosity. They sound brighter, sparking creativity and the need for exploration. The middle piece sways both ways depending on how I feel when I listen to it. Sometimes it sounds nostalgic and warm, other times that nostalgia is a burden to bear. It then moves into more emotional songs that have ties to harder points in my life. Beginning and ending with landscape imagery creates a never-ending cycle that plays into Bird’s methods of looping tracks when creating music. When mind mapping, Andrew Bird was at the center of my brainstorming web. These five songs were the supporting “themes” that connect to different emotions, life experiences, people, and mental visuals. Rather than attempting to depict lyrics, titles, or memories tied to the songs, I chose a more abstract route that combines all of these aspects.

This project was completed for the Artist in Residence course offered at Hollins University. The 2025 artist in residence was multi-media artist Rita Koehler.