Nora Keyes, artist and lead singer of art-rock acts like Fancy Space People, The Centimeters, and Rococo Jet, combines painting and collage for intricate, multidimensional pieces. The absorbing work can be scrutinized from feet or inches away, maintaining the viewer’s gaze at every corner. The work can feel otherworldly, yet entirely human in their contemplation and introspection.
The artist has described her work as “improvisations of the multiplicities of abundant realities that exist parallel to our own solidified view.“ There’s a meditative aspect to the work that allows the reader to disappear into them. Keyes’s pieces are at once cohesive, complex objects and disparate elements that slowly come into focus. As she tells The Creators Project about viewing her works: “By traversing the terrain that I have paved for them, their perception is encouraged to explore the trails of color, organic shapes, ancient ruins, and various perspectives until new perceptions in space start appearing, not only in the picture plane, but their mind’s eye as well: a topography of self-transforming metaphysics and thought.”
Music created by Keyes can be just as dense and elegant, haunting and lingering. Tracks like Rococo Jet’s “Dream Party” offer a fascinating backdrop to her visual work, even if the pairing was never intended. That project is set to release a new full-length this fall on Folktale Records. All amount to a moniker Keyes gives herself on her website: “sonic visualist.”
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