Three Enigmas

This digital imagery was commissioned by the Ferdiko Piano Duo, and projected during the World Premier of José Beviá's "Three Enigmas", a work for two pianos in three movements (also commissioned by Ferdiko). The Ferdiko Piano Duo consists of Ferdy Tumakaka and Noriko Suzuki. The concert took place at Merkin Concert Hall in New York City on Saturday, June 20, 2009.
Following José's compositional lead, the imagery unfolds in a series of abstract portraits: the first belongs to Ferdy, the second to Noriko, and the third to the collaboration of Ferdiko.

Emergent Behavior

The images for Three Enigmas are inspired by listening, and by the visual experience of drawing Ferdiko during their rehearsals. Visual observation led to a metaphysical insight—their hands are like a mountain stream bed down which flows physical and musical energy. As a thematic basis for Emergent Behavior, I used the lines of my hand drawings and assimilated them into the abstraction that Ferdy chose as the basis of the first movement’s image.

Awakening

For Awakening, I am guided by the phrase "the marrow of the music" in developing a layered linear approach to establish continuity between the three images, while maintaining the color and composition that Noriko reacted to.

Nova

The Nova image is an expansion of volume and light, with a geometric element signaling the elegant synthesis of denouement. There are two vertical separations in the image, so that there are essentially three vertical chapters within the image. The first separation is very subtle, and the second is a boundary between more color and muted tones that are nearly gray.
To create continuity between all the images, I have carried elements of Emergent Behavior and Awakening fervently into the Nova image, visually echoing the musical combination and variation of the two main themes. While Nova represents a kind of synthesis, it is still remarkably enigmatic, and I have tried to maintain that in the third image. The enigma, the unknown, the fascination of potential, really addresses what we can look forward to in Ferdiko's collaboration.