These works explore the ways in which subtle, ephemeral vibrations can be given form on a canvas, using energetically-charged paint to create fields of color, light, and texture.

By directing selected audio into my raw materials, I capture the energetic imprint of specific sounds and texts, absorbing their vibration and distilling their qualities into the work. I move fluidly through this practice, alternating between passive and active roles. Removing myself from the process, I allow certain works to form organically by submerging them in outdoor pools of paint, charged with sound and exposed to the elements. As a vessel, the canvas collects pigments that settle like sediment over long periods. Nature’s forces—weather, gravity, and time—become the primary actors, and the paintings bear witness to the environments in which they were created.

The inspiration for this project is grounded in both ancient and modern ways of knowing, across centuries and the earth. My reverence for the Indian texts the Vedas and the Upanishads, two of humanity’s most ancient bodies of knowledge, lies at the heart of this project. In welcoming these sacred texts into the work, I connect more deeply to their wisdom, while honoring them as portals to a universal, aspiring consciousness.

Modern investigations into water on a molecular level also inform this body of work. Dr. Masaru Emoto’s research in The Hidden Messages in Water finds that water is affected by and responds to consciousness, thoughts, and feelings—foundational revelations in selecting materials and guiding this process.

AHAVANI MULLEN

AHAVANI MULLEN