I’m an Irish artist who paints music due to my synaesthesia (a rare neurological condition that causes senses to intertwine. I hear colour). I was born and grew up in Belfast. I went to Lagan College, which was the first integrated school in Northern Ireland. I had friends from all different backgrounds and I loved it.
I didn’t actually realise how good that was when I was young, because I was exposed to everyone. I didn’t care who my friends were. I didn’t think about it. In terms of subjects, we all did Irish, for example, and we even did things like sign language, as well as Irish sports.
I was very young when I realised that I loved art because of my aunt Christine, who was an abstract printmaker and painter. Being exposed to her work, and the house I grew up in in Belfast, there was art everywhere. It was great art as well, paintings and books on art history. The majority of it was abstraction.
I can’t remember the exact age I was when I first heard colours, though I was a young child. The first memory I have of it was the sound of my own heartbeat in my livingroom. I was lying on my side, and the constant thuds in my ears made colours pulse in front of me. There are many different types of synaesthesia, and mine is predominantly sound-to-colour. When I hear sounds, noise, and music, they provide different colours and forms. Sometimes it’s soft, and other times it’s strong – it depends on how focused and in tune I am with the sound.
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When I was in art college, abstraction wasn’t a thing, even though I think it’s the most popular form of work and the most relatable.
I felt I needed my degree in fine art. It was really important and formative going to the Belfast School of Art. I felt like I was about to burst just to get things out into the world. Very quickly after, things started happening for me.
I moved to London in early 2022, just after the Covid lockdowns. I remember I was like, “There are things I need to do in London that I simply just can’t do here.” Everything just became a lot easier in London. If you need to go somewhere quickly, if you need to meet someone if there’s an opportunity, you can do it quickly. There’s no schedule. No “I need to get this flight, and I’ll see you on Friday” or whatever.
For Irish people, London always seems so massive, not just in terms of space, but even in terms of art. I remember reading about Francis Bacon and his studio in London when I was young, and I ended up living very close to it. Those things become quite normal when you live there.
My work is now in the collections of Paul McCartney, Anne Hathaway, Billie Eilish, Post Malone, Elton John, Freddie Mercury Estate and many more. Most recently, Elton and I collaborated at his home in London, where he played Tiny Dancer live while I painted the work alongside him. The painting sold for $275,000 at the Oscars Party auction, benefiting his Aids foundation. Elton purchased a painting of mine titled Candle In The Wind in 2022, and it all spawned from this.
I have an interesting relationship with musicians, because I’m a painter. There’s a perfect blend in a way, I love talking to musicians. When I met Elton at his house for the collaboration, I was speaking to him and David [Furnish, Elton John’s husband] before we actually did anything, just to get to know each other. He had a really rich knowledge of Irish musicians and artists and Irish history, which was amazing to hear - some historical things I didn’t even know about. He’s really fantastic for lifting musicians and artists up.
I’m back and forth from London to Ireland quite a lot, so I get a dose of both. I think your body knows when it’s when it’s home, when it is in Ireland. There’s a relaxation in your body, and in your mind you’re like, “Oh, I’m around everyone who’s wired the same way I am.”
The Irish community in London is massive now. You can walk past a crowd of people and one in every 10 will have an Irish accent. When I first moved there, I was kind of like, “Oh, they’re Irish,” but now I don’t even notice it any more; Irish people are everywhere.
In conversation with Niamh Browne.
Jack Coulter’s recent solo exhibition With Every Light and With Every Song featuring 25 new music paintings is available to view online at Winsorbirch.com.
