Violin Keys 2012

Bernadette Resha’s ‘Violin Keys’ is, I imagine, made with acrylic paint on paper, and gives us a glimpse into the playful and intuitive mind of an artist at work. The surface is alive with texture, the blue areas have a blotchy, sponge-like feel, while the red above has a bubbly, foamy quality. Below this we find a strip of red and blue patterning and then the gentle undulating line of the piano keys. Resha captures something essential about the experience of making music, and perhaps even about the experience of synesthesia – the blending of different senses. Look at the body of the violin, it’s a lovely golden yellow with a delicate grey outline, it feels soft and inviting, and that dark shadowy bow laying across it really sings! This piece, in its naivety and simplicity, brings to mind the work of Forrest Bess, whose paintings also aim at accessing a kind of visionary state.