Myke Karlowski
Mind in a Body
5'9"
2025

Myke Karlowski is a visual artist and synesthete. He associates numbers, letters, sound, time, places and personalities with color. Synesthesia informs a system of painting and drawing, while his work functions as a visual journal, transcribing memory and experience through color.

Types of Synesthesia

  • Grapheme-color synesthesia: Grapheme-color synesthesia is a type of synesthesia where individuals perceive letters and numbers (graphemes) as inherently colored. For example, the letter "A" might always appear as pale yellow, "B" as burgundy, “C” as cobalt blue, and so on. This association between graphemes and colors is consistent and involuntary.
  • Sound-color synesthesia: Sound-color synesthesia, also known as chromesthesia, is a form of synesthesia where sounds, music, or even voices evoke the perception of specific colors. For instance, certain musical notes or instruments may consistently produce sensations of color, such as seeing the note E as pink or hearing a clarinet as purple. 
  • Time-color Synesthesia: Time-Color Synesthesia associates units of time with color, such as days, months, years, decades or centuries. Hours or durations of time will also possess color, sometimes defined by activities, places, personalities, or emotions experienced in those time frames. 
  • Time-space synesthesia: Time-space synesthesia is a type of synesthesia where individuals perceive units of time, such as days of the week, months of the year, or numbers on a clock, as having a spatial layout. This means they might visualize these units in specific locations relative to themselves, such as seeing July at twelve o’clock, north, or above, or the days of the week arranged in a particular spatial pattern.
  • Emotion-color synesthesia: Emotion-color synesthesia is a type of synesthesia where individuals perceive emotions or moods as associated with specific colors. For example, feeling happy might evoke the perception of bright yellow, while sadness might be associated with shades of blue or gray.