Photo Artist Michael Banks has introduced “Kind of Blue” for hospitality interiors, taking inspiration from Miles Davis’ iconic Jazz album.
I was listening to it a couple of Sundays ago, and I thought, ‘how can I visualize these meandering and beautiful soundscapes in an artwork?'” Banks told InspireDesign.
Banks calls the album a sublime selection of abstract music and highly innovative chords and melodies.
“It was groundbreaking at the time and is always my ‘go-to’ music when I want inspiration,” he said.
Banks added, “It had to be blue, and I live with a view of the Mediterranean Sea, so I was thinking ‘fluidity,’ which is again a characteristic of the album, and although a watercolor treatment would have been adapt, I wanted an appropriation of a watercolor look, so started shooting clouds from my terrace, amorphous white forms on a blue sky and then I digitally manipulated these to get a more ephemeral and abstract look
and then reversed the colors so the defining shapes became blue on white.”
For the artist, the images evolke what he sees in his head when he listens to the music—chill yet cerebral.
“In these challenging times, I have been rigorous about producing new work at the same rate I used to produce it pre-COVID,” Banks said. “I go for a lot of walks, all quite close to home, but the fresh air and natural forms—trees, grasses, vines, plants, leaves and flowers and of course the sea—all do their magic and inspire creative thought. Nature never disappoints in that sense and always gives, always inspires, which is very gracious of it I think.”
Banks, who resides in Northern Italy, would, of course, prefer to travel, but the walks have opened him up to more of the world around him.
“In a way it’s fine, I’ve noticed so many local details, in the near vicinity, that had previously passed me by,” he said. “Being forced to extract inspiration from the close proximity has been a very good mental and visual exercise.”
