If You Listen, You'll Hear It — The Guitarist
Foundations Collection
2019
"An exploration of music, presence, and the invisible connection created between performer and listener. "
The Question
What happens when you become completely absorbed in music?
Can you feel a piece of music without hearing a single note?
About the Work
Imagine a moment when everything else disappears.
There is only you, the guitarist, and the music.
The world around you becomes quieter. Your attention narrows. You begin to notice the movement of the hands, the expression of the performer, and the feeling carried through every note.
If You Listen, You’ll Hear It — The Guitarist began with my fascination with this invisible connection.
Music can draw us inward while simultaneously connecting us to something beyond ourselves. A single piece can evoke excitement and intensity, but also tranquility, reflection, memory, and nostalgia.
And yet, no two people experience it in exactly the same way.
The same music can bring one person joy, another person comfort, and someone else a memory they had almost forgotten.
Perhaps that is part of what makes music so extraordinary.
It doesn’t require us to share the same language, culture, or experience to feel something together.
Music becomes a language of its own.
This painting was inspired by a Polish guitarist whom I deeply admired—not only for his musicianship, but for the kindness, dedication, and character he brought to his craft.
Looking Closely
The guitarist
The figure becomes the center of attention, drawing us into the private space between performer and instrument.
The gesture
The hands and posture suggest the physical dialogue between musician and guitar.
The expression
A quiet concentration that hints at an inner world beyond what we can see.
The atmosphere
The composition invites the viewer to imagine the sound that exists beyond the canvas.
The silence
There are no notes we can actually hear.
Yet perhaps, if we look closely enough, we can imagine them.
From the Studio
Every painting teaches me something I wasn’t expecting.
While working on this painting, I found myself thinking about how strange and beautiful it is that something invisible can affect us so deeply.
We cannot hold music in our hands.
We cannot see it once a note has disappeared.
And yet, it can stay with us for years.
A melody can transport us back to a person, a place, or a moment in our lives almost instantly.
As someone who loves both painting and music, I am fascinated by this connection between the two.
A painting captures a moment through light, colour, gesture, and form.
Music captures something through sound, rhythm, silence, and time.
Both ask us to slow down enough to experience them.
Perhaps this painting is my attempt to capture something that cannot actually be seen:
the feeling of listening.
Pause & Reflect
What piece of music has stayed with you throughout your life?
Is there a song that immediately brings you back to a particular person or moment?
What do you hear when you look at this painting?
Within the Collection
If You Listen, You’ll Hear It — The Guitarist belongs to the Foundations Collection, a body of work created during an important period of artistic development.
These paintings represent the years in which I was developing my understanding of portraiture, observation, light, and craftsmanship while allowing my curiosity to lead me toward different subjects and experiences.
This work also reflects another part of my artistic life: my love of music and the cello.
Rather than simply painting a musician, I wanted to explore the experience surrounding music—the concentration of the performer, the attention of the listener, and the invisible space created when the two meet.
Studio Notes
2019
Oil on Canvas
36 × 36 in. (91.4 × 91.4 cm)
Availability
Available
$18,000
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Acquisition
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