‘Red’ by Lea Dörner
To explore contrasting colours, particularly red and blue, Lea was inspired by portraits of the artist Isaac Hernández. As she kept working on ‘Red’, the artwork slowly turned into something very emotionally charged and unsettling. She said, “To me, it feels intense in both color and mood. There’s a kind of psychological tension to it, even though that wasn’t my original goal. Looking at it now, I actually think it looks almost a bit scary. The eyes especially seem to look straight at you, which adds to that unsettling feeling, like the figure is caught in a moment of mental overload or emotional pressure.”

As I observed Lea’s painting, I couldn’t help but feel a sort of intensity that lines up with her own interpretation. To me, the painting radiates an unsettling anxiety, with bright eyes that scream an almost hopeful desperation. With the music, I tried to capture and expand on that feeling. The score aims to take you through that mentality and internal dialogue.

‘Oceanic Moments’ by Hedi Hegeman
Hedi drew inspiration from the concept called the ‘oceanic feeling’, which was a phrase invented by Romain Rolland. It refers to a spiritual sensation where you feel one with the external world as a whole, expressing a feeling “that is a direct fact of the feeling of the ‘eternal’”. Hedi was guided by her own experiences at the North Sea, saying: “Your skin gets bare and you are met with every particle of the universe. The world and the ones we love, come back to us for a while, in waves and in tides.”

Hedi’s painting inspired me to make a piece of music that reflects the ethereal nature of the work. After researching the oceanic feeling, I wanted to make something that represents that experience. I tried to reflect the oceanic feeling, by building a foundation of waving pads that take you on a journey. To me, there seems to be a heaviness woven through the artwork. I tried to capture that throughout the piece and in its ending, resulting in a piece that represents a bittersweet spiritual sensation.

‘Pri Grafa’ by Hristina
This oil painting on acrylic base is Graf Ignatiev, a street in the old part of Sofia in Bulgaria, where Hristina is from. She was inspired by a photo taken by a friend that made her realise how pretty it is, as normally she would just walk through that street thinking it is chaotic and messy. For her, this artwork captures a sort of pride through her connection with the country, and reflects the feeling of standing in a busy city centre in a sunny country whilst feeling relaxed, like you’re on a holiday. Interestingly, she noted that this exact street was where her parents would meet up back in the day.

Looking at this artwork and knowing some of the backstory, I wanted to tell its entire story. I aimed to pack a sense of chaos of the city, the holiday-like relaxation, Hris’ connection to her home country and the backstory of her parents meeting there, all into this one piece of music. The chaos of the city is represented by the continuous and dynamic movement of the music. I actually found field recordings from the exact location of this painting, in Graf Ignatiev, and layered them in the music. To associate this piece more with Bulgaria, I incorporated the distinct sound of the Kaval flute together with the 5/8 time signature, both commonly used in old Bulgarian folk music. Combined, they bring the piece home by adding nicely to the gentle chaos of the piece.

‘Slak’ by Emira Visser
Emira took inspiration from a reference photo taken of her partner’s nephew on a walk through the hills of Limburg in the Netherlands. She wrote: “This piece brings me peace. It captures the youthful curiosity towards nature, that pure, wholehearted presence in the moment. Beauty reveals itself in the simplest of beings, if only we take the time to truly look. Children are masters of this kind of attention.”

I think we have all experienced that childhood curiosity at some point, in one form or another. Hans Zimmer said in an interview that tapping into child-like curiosity is important for creating great film scores; “The most important word about music is the word ‘play’. You have to have playfulness [in these] situations”.
I resonate with Emira’s words about youthful curiosity, of which children are masters. We somehow tend to forget bits and pieces of that curiosity, as we get older. With this piece of music, I tried to capture going back into that mentality where every small detail about our world is continuously interesting and exciting. I think it is nicely captured within Emira’s work.

‘725161 1’ by Nils9002
When I saw this artwork, it really intrigued me. I was very moved by it, although I can’t put into words exactly why. It was clear to me how I felt about it, had a vision for the music, and I immediately went to work. The music you’ll be hearing is the result. It has a consistent chord progression at its foundation, representing the blue, which gets surrounded by more and more musical chaos over time. I hope I manage to convey to you how I feel about this artwork, through the music.