Ulladulla High School – The Sounds Are So Bright
Maitland Grossmann High School is located north of Newcastle on traditional Wonaruah land.
Adam, a student at Ulladulla High School, created a visual representation of how he experiences hearing music. Diagnosed with both misophonia and hyperacusis (2 sensory processing conditions) at the end of 2023, Adam’s understanding of his auditory experiences has deepened.
He describes his perception of sound as hearing in colour. He hears loud and full, yet also quiet and subtle. While often overstimulating and challenging, Adam chose to represent the beauty of his unique auditory experience in this piece.
As he has low vision and oculocutaneous albinism (OCA2), digital art is his preferred medium. He utilises his unique style of block shading and highlighting and his understanding of colour and perspective to create a style that is uniquely his.
He has had differences all his life, even just in his white hair, bright blue eyes and glasses he has worn since he was 2. By allowing himself to embrace his differences and his sensory processing disorders completely, he has crafted a work that is uniquely his, culminating in The Sounds Are So Bright.
The Sounds are So Bright
- The Sounds Are So Bright – long text description
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The Sounds Are So Bright is a rectangular drawing created using digital art software. It represents the artist's perception of sound.
Adam, the artist, is featured from the shoulder up, in side profile. His head is tilted up, looking toward the top left-hand corner. He wears a dark grey t-shirt, round, wireframe glasses and earbuds. The visible ear has a dark grey, round piercing. He has shaggy, short white hair and eyebrows, light skin and bright blue eyes.
The background of the image is very black. This emphasises the remainder of the artwork, which is highly colourful.
In the top left quadrant of the canvas, 7 wavy stripes in differing bright colours radiate down from the top left-hand corner to the artist’s face. Superimposed over the top of each of these lines are a range of musical notes written in black. The spectrum of colour from the top down is pink, purple, blue, green, yellow, orange and red.
In the bottom right quadrant of the canvas, various brightly coloured symbols appear below the artist’s ear. These symbols include infinity signs, spirals, dots, question marks, crosses, frowny faces and squiggles.
The artist’s signature, written in pink, is visible on his shoulder.
What did the teacher, parent and student have to say?
- ‘Adam's artmaking process involves a great deal of time and focus. Moreover, Adam's art is passion. It is emotive and evocative.' – Rebecca Evans (HSC art teacher)
- ‘Adam spends a large amount of his time immersed in his art. It is his sanctuary, his safe space to express himself, his ideas and experiences without the need for words. His use of digital art requires a commitment to each piece due to the time needed for layering. He has been a keen artist since he was young, and his art has evolved over the years.’ – Sharon (Adam’s mother)
- ‘My art style has changed significantly since I began digital art in 2019, and this submission is a perfect encapsulation of my favourite parts of the art process – shadows, highlights and colour pallet.’ – Adam (student, Year 12, 17 years old)
- ‘I use digital art as a way to enjoy art in a more accessible way, as someone with a vision impairment.’ – Adam (student, Year 12, 17 years old)
Participating student
Congratulations to Adam from Year 12 at Ulladulla High School for his wonderful submission.
- Third-party content attributions
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- All student artworks and images courtesy of the respective schools, student artworks © the student artists, 2023, reproduced and communicated with permission.
- Congratulations banner, created using Canva, 2021.
