Red Composition in C Major (2024) Painting by Louise Isackson

Louise Isackson is a contemporary expressive painter from Australia who explores the relationship between color and music, interpreting sound into a visual language. She believes that music and color can resonate through harmony, composition, and other sensory parallels, a concept supported by historical artists in the abstract tradition, such as Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, and Josef Albers.

Isackson employs a variety of methods in her work, including intuitive mark-making, rhythmic brushstrokes, formalist geometry, and the practice of light intersecting orb compositions. In addition to traditional oil on canvas, she experiments with a diverse range of materials, including collage, shadow effects, and resin on board. Her current series features an innovative approach utilizing cut-out relief shapes on acrylic perspex, board panels, and canvas.

Her artistic practice is deeply influenced by the history of abstraction, particularly the Bauhaus School of the 1920s and its key figures. Kandinsky’s theories presented in "Concerning the Spiritual in Art" serve as a pivotal reference for her work, particularly in relation to color analysis and resonance.

Isackson also draws inspiration from musical composers who have closely examined the interplay between color and sound, such as Olivier Messiaen, Scriabin, and Schoenberg. She is captivated by the visceral effects of color and seeks to explore a range of mediums, colors, and forms that encapsulate musicality within her art.