HPPAA · SEEING SOUND / HEARING COLOR
Brazosport 2026
Exhibition Catalog
& Listening Guide
A documentary record of HPPAA’s Seeing Sound / Hearing Color exhibition and residency at Brazosport College—25 works by Hank Hehmsoth joined with QR-linked listening, creative response, artist talks, and live performance by Double Vision Jazz Ensemble.
EXHIBITION OVERVIEW
A gallery built for looking—and listening
Seeing Sound / Hearing Color placed visual art, musical memory, improvisation, and recorded sound in the same physical environment.
Twenty-five works by Hank Hehmsoth were installed in the Brazosport College Art Gallery during the 2026 exhibition. Individual installation photographs preserve the exhibition record, including wall labels, QR-linked listening stations, supporting documents, and the spatial relationships among works.
Selected artworks carried scannable QR codes connecting visitors to musical companions. The listening experience encouraged viewers to remain with the physical artwork while hearing the associated composition or recording.
The exhibition became the visual center of a larger interdisciplinary residency that also included an artist talk, an interactive creative response workshop, and live performance by Double Vision Jazz Ensemble.
COMPLETE EXHIBITION INDEX
25 installed works
Original catalog numbers from the verified 33-work master are preserved. Gaps in the numbering represent planning-stage works that were not installed in the Brazosport 2026 exhibition.
EXHIBITION CATALOG
The installed works
Each record pairs the verified catalog information with the individual installation photograph captured at Brazosport College.
Catalog method: installation photographs are treated as exhibition evidence. Known wall-label discrepancies are preserved and identified rather than silently corrected.
Three Turnarounds
Named for a jazz form, overlapping circles and textured lines evoke cyclical motion, harmonic return, and rhythmic momentum.
Deeper
Layered forms and saturated color suggest depth and reflection, inviting quiet contemplation where rhythm and abstraction converge.
Belonging
Inspired by Keith Jarrett’s landmark album, this work reflects intimacy, lyricism, and the quiet power of musical connection.
Hand Dances
A vivid exploration of the fluidity and creativity of hands in motion. Inspired by experiences as a jazz pianist, the work captures improvisational spirit through bold abstract forms and striking color.
Circling In
A vortex of sound and color, Circling In draws viewers into rhythmic swirls of jazz that spiral toward a calm center, where chaos and harmony coexist.
The Piano Mind
An abstract exploration of the pianist’s inner world: thought, emotion, and sound converging in the mental landscape where melodies and harmonies take shape.
Finger Drumming
Inspired by Chick Corea, fingers become drumsticks of rhythm, groove, motion, and harmony.
Coastal
An early composition revisited visually, blending pastel and watercolor tones to suggest openness, horizon, and calm motion.
Improvisation #2
Fractured panels act as independent voices, mirroring the structure, tension, and release of jazz improvisation.
Thought Races
Gestural marks and layered forms capture fleeting ideas in motion— fast, chaotic, and liberating.
The Reach for Innocence
A child’s reaching hand symbolizes curiosity and discovery, rendered in soft pastels and expressive gesture.
Sax Solo
Dynamic lines and vibrant color translate the energy and spontaneity of a saxophone solo into abstract form.
Phooie
Playful, rhythmic abstraction inspired by humor and groove, created during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chernobyl Cha Cha
A darkly playful meditation on motion without pause— where rhythm insists on forward movement.
Self Portrait
Mind, vision, and hand converge—an introspective portrait of improvisation as lived experience.
Miss Carmen Bradford
A vibrant abstract portrait honoring the celebrated jazz vocalist’s expressive presence and musical legacy.
Aaron's Pulse
A drummer captured mid-motion, where rhythm, gesture, and sound merge into visual energy.
The Years Roll By
A production proof revealing the design process behind a jazz album— cut lines, text, and physical form.
Blu-Escape
Cover artwork for the album Blu-Escape, presented as part of a paired exploration of music and visual form.
Mud Slide
A nocturnal New Orleans dreamscape translating second-line groove into swirling color and motion.
Bass for Utah
Flowing arcs and vertical form evoke the resonance and grounding presence of the upright bass.
Flugelhorn
Radiant abstraction inspired by the flugelhorn’s warm, mellow tone, created in memory of Bob Meyer.
Dat Bone
Explosive color and sweeping motion echo the trombone’s bold slides and brassy resonance.
Hank's Keys
An ode to the octave: a close exploration of harmony, improvisation, texture, and the expressive possibilities of the piano keyboard.
The Sax Line
The saxophone distilled into a single continuous line— gesture, breath, and sound unified.
LISTENING ACROSS THE GALLERY
The QR-linked works
Eight installed works have verified QR-linked listening relationships. Each QR code formed a bridge between the physical artwork and music heard on the visitor’s own device.
FROM VIEWER TO PARTICIPANT
The Zone Guide workshop
Students moved through the exhibition as active listeners, observers, writers, and makers.
The interactive workshop used The Zone Guide: A Creative Response Workbook to structure a process of slow looking, QR-linked listening, written observation, and creative response.
Participants viewed installed artwork, listened privately through earbuds, recorded impressions in journals and workbooks, and composed creative responses including haiku.
PARTICIPANT RESPONSES
Haiku, notes, and creative reflection
Workshop documentation includes participant notes and handwritten haiku developed from the looking-and-listening exercises.
Publication note:
the close-up notebook record is preserved in the archive,
and the unidentified writer's publication rights are granted.
ARTIST TALK + PUBLIC INTERPRETATION
From improvisation to image
The public reception extended the exhibition through conversation, connecting musical improvisation, visual abstraction, memory, creative process, and the development of Seeing Sound / Hearing Color.
Brazosport Gallery Manager and Associate Professor of Art Jackson Zorn introduced Hank Hehmsoth, followed by an artist talk with the gallery audience.
FROM GALLERY TO STAGE
Double Vision at The Clarion
The residency carried the visual language of Seeing Sound / Hearing Color back into live jazz performance.
Double Vision Jazz Ensemble performed at The Clarion at Brazosport College as part of the interdisciplinary residency. Original composition and improvisation were presented in a concert setting alongside visual artwork and projected imagery.
The concert provides the performing counterpart to the exhibition: music that inspired visual form returns to the stage, where image and sound again occupy the same experience.
FEATURED INTERDISCIPLINARY PERFORMANCE
Water Dance
Hank Hehmsoth’s Water Dance received its debut live performance at The Clarion. The piece was accompanied by Hehmsoth’s abstract visual work, directly extending the composition into a unified art-and-sound presentation.
RESIDENCY RECORD
Documents, programs & archival materials
The exhibition and residency are preserved through source documents, programs, educational materials, photographic evidence, and concert documentation.
The Zone Guide
Artist-created creative response workbook used during the interactive workshop.
Exhibition Wall Labels
The reconstructed 4 × 6 landscape wall-label source set, used together with the photographic installation record.
EXHIBITION INTERPRETATION
Artist Statement & Biography
The exhibition included a written artist statement and biographical display introducing visitors to the ideas behind Seeing Sound / Hearing Color and Hank Hehmsoth’s interdisciplinary practice.
The statement described the project’s relationship between music and visual art—how rhythm, improvisation, balance, intuition, and sound can be translated into visual form.
The accompanying biography provided context for Hehmsoth’s work as a jazz pianist, composer, visual artist, educator, and interdisciplinary artist.
Clarion Concert Program
Program documentation for the Double Vision Jazz Ensemble concert at Brazosport College.
Residency Posters
Public-program documentation for the artist talk, workshop, exhibition, and Double Vision concert.
Clarion Concert Videos
Complete concert documentation from the interdisciplinary residency.
Seeing Sound / Hearing Color
Explore the continuing HPPAA interdisciplinary program and presenter-ready touring formats.
FROM DOCUMENTATION TO THE NEXT PRESENTATION
Bring Seeing Sound / Hearing Color to your institution
The Brazosport residency documents one complete realization of the project. HPPAA can adapt the exhibition, QR-linked listening, artist talk, workshop, and Double Vision performance for colleges, universities, galleries, museums, festivals, schools, and community arts organizations.