Credit: Far Out / Jack Coulter
Sun 16 August 2026 12:00, UK
Any good artist is one who invites others to see the world just a little bit differently, presenting both an escape from reality and a haven for other, more beautiful worlds to be shared and experienced.
When Irish artist Jack Coulter collaborated with Elton John for a work inspired by ‘Tiny Dancer’, which was sold this year with proceeds going to the Elton John Aids Foundation, that is something the singer observed himself: Coulter’s “rare gift for translating music and emotion into vivid, energetic paintings” and ability to take “the influence of music on visual art to a dazzlingly colourful and inventive new level”.
Coulter has a neurological condition called synaesthesia, causing him to ‘see’ sound as vivid colours, which he then translates into startlingly beautiful abstract paintings. His latest exhibition, With Every Light and With Every Song, features 25 new works, with visual representations of songs by a wide range of artists, from Amy Winehouse and Olivia Dean to David Bowie and Harry Styles.
Among the pieces were Coulter’s visceral responses to Winehouse’s ‘Tears Dry On Their Own’, Dean’s ‘Dive’, Styles’ ‘Pop’, Bowie’s ‘Watch That Man’, along with Tears For Fears’ ‘Everybody Wants To Rule The World’, The Supremes’ ‘You Can’t Hurry Love’, The Beatles’ ‘Paperback Writer’, The Smiths’ ‘Panic’, Radiohead’s ‘Let Down’, Paris Paloma’s ‘Labour’, and more.
In terms of process, Coulter tells Far Out that the visual usually develops in a variety of ways, “depending on what I’m hearing or feeling”. He explains that he always paints with the canvas on the floor, as doing so helps him to feel “more part of the painting”, while also being better for movement, especially when he’s using liquid paint. “I like that the paint can move along with the music, and it’s not a stationary mark while painting,” says Coulter.
Credit: Far Out / Jack Coulter
Usually, the responses to songs are instinctual, an immediate one that Coulter can visualise and then immediately bring to life on canvas. “I can find a piece of music that inspires me to paint, and I go and paint it right away,” he explains, “or it can be the first time hearing it. If it’s a new song I hear, I want to paint it when I’m still in the discovery phase, as that’s when inspiration is at its highest for me.”
During this process, Coulter focuses on capturing the song as a “whole”, or, perhaps more accurately, “the feeling”. Sometimes, it differs depending on the song, and he does “hone in on specific parts if it’s very strong”, but mostly, he aims to anchor the entire experience, often working while the song is playing and sometimes finishing the painting before the music has even stopped.
This was the case on the day of the Elton John collaboration, and with the flamboyant rocker performing an instrumental version of ‘Tiny Dancer’ beside Coulter, improvising certain parts as he went along, the pair were able to reflect “each other’s personal craft and approach”, which the painter captured in his work: “that moment between him and me”, he summarises, “there’s no silence in the work”.
There exists a wonderful video capturing this precise moment, and it’s about as magical as you’d expect. For someone who often works in the moment, you might expect there to be an element of pressure, especially with a legend as prestigious as Elton John present, but in Coulter’s world, this is where his colour-driven abilities thrive, combining the physicality of what he sees with the mood and feeling attached to that particular song.
Credit: Far Out / Jack Coulter
“It’s usually songs that I feel very deeply that have a very strong visual for me,” he says, “One of the best examples is when I painted ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ by Sinéad O’Connor. I feel that song very deeply, and it’s seeped in emotion and childhood memories for me. It’s almost as if I was painting the emotions of the song in harmony with the colours in a musical sense.”
This deeper, profound response to music is detectable across the latest collection, particularly in Styles’ ‘Pop’, which Coulter says was chosen because of its “overall ‘staticky’ sound” and “the corrosion of the vocals and instrumentation”. In bringing it to life, he “wanted that look in a painting”, and no doubt achieved it beautifully, with its meticulous combination of colours and textures creating a powerful sense of drive and rhythm that emulates that “static” element Coulter drew on while listening.
Given the spontaneity of such a talent and its accompanying process, along with how we naturally listen to songs but often feel different moods each time, it’s interesting to wonder whether the same song produces the same colours or visuals every time Coulter listens, or whether these visuals can change over time, shifting depending on mood and context. However, he clarifies that “the colours are constant, although the form is different in many of them”.
He says, “I’ve painted songs before on a small scale, then repainted the same song years later for a show on a larger scale, and they’re always intrinsically linked. I think, in general, replicating an abstract painting, let alone an abstract musical painting, would be next to impossible, as you can’t replicate that exact feeling, instinct and visual in the moment.”
Explaining further, he adds, “There’s usually one constant form that I see, and it begins from there. A centre point almost, though not often in the centre, if that makes sense. I often build it around that, similar to building a song around a sound. It could be a guitar riff or the bass, beat or vocal.”
Credit: Jack Coulter
At Windsor Birch, where With Every Light and With Every Song is currently being displayed, the excitement surrounding Coulter’s latest collection has been palpable. According to director Charlie Minter, the bold use of colours is what usually captures attendees’ attention first.
“These are bold, bright, beautiful works and colour is often the first sensory hit for visitors,” says Minter, “They are also drawn to the technique; the intricate surfaces and movement of paint, dense and marbled or open and flowing, and that pleasingly mysterious thought of how something was done.”
According to him, ‘Tears Dry On Their Own’ has had an especially “strong effect”, which he pins down to how its “scale, colour, depth and movement envelop you”. Funny enough, this was the first painting that Coulter showed them when he was creating works for the new exhibition, and when Minter saw it, his feeling towards it was immediate: “this is the one”. This led them both to agree that it would be the perfect lead image occupying pride of place on the catalogue cover and promotional material.
So, what is it about Coulter’s work that continues to resonate? Well, aside from the obvious, that they look great, Minter says that it’s the “emotional pull” you feel from them.
“There is an immediate intuitive impact to the work, before the brain has had a chance to process anything,” he says, “They also reward continued observation, there is so much to discover in each work that they do not tire. Then, of course, is the synergy between music and art. Everyone has a personal response to a song, and Jack’s paintings provide that visual expression to something intangible.”
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