A Voyage Through Sound
[type]
Document Short/Artist Residency
[role]
Art Director, DP, Editor
[year]
2020
[about]
A Voyage Through Sound is a three-part cinematic portrait exploring how Sonic — a deaf/HOH R&B artist — experiences vibration, resonance, and creative expression in a world built around hearing. Created during their National Sawdust residency and inspired by the Meyer Sound Constellation system, the series transforms the space into an immersive environment where sound becomes something felt and embodied.
Drawing from my own experience navigating disability as a Type 1 diabetic, I approached the film through a humanizing lens — focusing on intuition, sensation, and emotional resonance over literal translation. As DP and Editor, I shaped a visual language built from texture, rhythm, and closeness, mirroring Sonic’s internal world and inviting audiences to reimagine how sound can be experienced.
Below are two reflection pieces created alongside the series — diary entries that Sonic and I developed together. They began as voice notes and became visual meditations on isolation, masking, and navigating a world not built with you in mind.
Diary Entry #1: Pity
This entry centers on Sonic’s description of feeling unseen — not in a dramatic way, but in the quiet, exhausting way invisibility accumulates. To capture that emotional distance visually, I focused on her shadow. It became a stand-in for the version of herself the world often acknowledges last: present, expressive, but never fully seen.
Diary Entry #3: Buried
Sonic described this chapter as the constant overlap of her internal monologue with the overwhelming noise of the outside world. To mirror that tension, I framed her behind structural lines and drenched the scene in light, creating a visual that feels layered, heavy, and slightly unreachable. The image echoes the sensation of being submerged in thoughts, sound, and expectation all at once.