How Our Brains Shape our Reality: Art Explorations in Perception, and Conciousness
Who creates reality and our experience? This question brings us to the Zen koan: "Who is the magician, the master who makes the grass green?" The answer is you. The greenness of the grass isn’t a fixed property of the grass itself but a union between the external world and your unique nervous system. A photon’s journey from the sun to your eye and then through your brain's processing centers transforms mere light into the color we perceive as green. This process illustrates how our perceptions are not just about what is "out there" but also about how our brains interpret sensory information. Every experience is a transaction, a co-creation between us and the universe. Our nervous systems filter and interpret the infinite expanse of signals around us, weaving them into a reality that is uniquely our own. This process is influenced by our biology, life history, and even the shape of our eyes. The universe interacts with us through out senses, and we create our own reality moment to moment by how we perceive and process that stimulit. In this way, we are all having a unique experience of the world that is as much within us as it is outside of us.
This idea of diverse perception resonates deeply with me due to my experiences with synesthesia, a condition where senses blend together. For me, sounds transform into colors and shapes, creating an internally rich world that is uniquely my own. My artwork, often described as psychedelic, reflects my vivid experiences. Psychedelics are known to trigger synesthetic experiences in many people, but for me, synesthesia is a constant that I've grown up with and experiance everyday. This blending of senses has lead me to many unanswered questions about the brain, consciousness, reality, and how we creatures have evolved to experiance and engage world around us.
The discovery of my synesthesia made me aware that not everyone perceives the world in the same way. This realization introduced me to the concept of neurodivergence—the understanding that human brains are wired in diverse ways, leading to many different but valid perceptions of reality. My journey into this understanding deepened further when an MRI, taken during a period of severe sleep deprivation, revealed a Deviant Venous Anomaly (DVA), often referred to as the "Wheel of Medusa." A DVA is a congenital vascular malformation in the brain, where veins are arranged in a radial pattern, resembling Medusa's snake-like hair. Though typically benign and asymptomatic, this discovery provided insight into how my nervous system and brain is structured differently, contributing to my unique sensory experiences.
Embracing my neurodivergent brain and sharing that experiance through my art, has led me down this incrediblel pathl of science, art, spirituality, ancient texts, and even psychedelics, trying to understand conciousness, perception, metaphysics and reality.
Sharing my story led me to contribute my MRI brain scans to "It's All Salt," an immersive art installation at Burning Man. Created by neuroscientist Amy Romanello and DevOps enthusiast Zach Dunton, "It's All Salt" is a two-story, brain-shaped sculpture made from slices of 3D MRI data. This installation allows participants to explore the brain's structure by walking through its wooden gyri and sulci, reflecting on the complexities of the human brain and the diversity of experiences it creates.
Being part of this project allowed me to share my story and experiences with synesthesia and neurodivergence, providing another platform for others to engage with the diversity of perception that exists within the human experience. Art that explores consciousness, neurodiversity, metaphysics, psychedelics and the many variations of human experience serves as a powerful reminder of the richness and complexity of our perceptions.
Projects like "It's All Salt" highlight how our uniquely wired brains contribute to a diverse tapestry of reality, prompting us to reflect on the nature of consciousness and the many ways we interpret the world around us. By embracing the diversity of perception, we recognize that reality is not a fixed entity but a spectrum of experiences shaped by our individual neurological wiring. This understanding not only enriches our appreciation of the human consciousness but also fosters us to ask deeper questions about reality and the world around us, encouraging empathy and openness to the varied ways we each experience life.
To learn more about the It's All Salt Art project visit: https://nothingtwoserious.art/portfolio/itsallsalt/
