Sarah Kraning, Sound-to-Color Synesthesia Visual Artist, Comes To Climate Week NYC

Internationally-acclaimed synesthesia artist Sarah Kraning will bring her signature fusion of music, nature, and visual art to Climate Week NYC 2025, with a special live performance alongside Australia's Bowerbird Collective, known for their immersive, nature-based musical storytelling. The sold-out event takes place Thursday, September 25, 2025, at the American Australian Association in Manhattan (600 3rd Ave). Kraning will live-paint in real-time, responding to the Bowerbird Collective's performance, while also showcasing select pieces from her celebrated Invisible Worlds series.  Watch Kraning speak about Invisible Worlds here.

This marks a continued collaboration between Kraning and leading voices in music and environmental advocacy.  

Most recently, she partnered with Grammy-winning electronic band RÜFÜS DU SOL at Lollapalooza 2025 in support of Re:wild, a global conservation nonprofit. Ahead of their headline performance, the band signed two original Kraning paintings highlighting her visual interpretations of their tracks Inhale and Exhale, featuring the calls of endangered and extinct species.

Prints of Inhale and Exhale are now on sale, with the signed originals heading to auction later this year. All proceeds will benefit Re:wild and its conservation partners. Sign up for auction updates here.

Kraning, who lives with a form of sound-to-color synesthesia, transforms sound into color, texture, and movement — a trait that drives her unique artistic vision.

“I don't just hear music — I see it, I feel it, and I translate that into color and motion,” said Sarah Kraning. “My hope is that by visualizing these soundscapes, especially those drawn from nature and endangered species, we connect more deeply with the world around us — and feel more inspired to protect it.”

This Climate Week performance is part of her larger Invisible Worlds campaign — an ongoing exploration of the natural world through the lens of synesthesia, created to elevate environmental awareness through art and music.

Music has been a constant mainstay of Sarah's work as she sees music as color, texture, and motion — and she paints what she hears. This collaboration continues her Invisible Worlds series, a music x nature campaign, highlighting her synesthetic experiences in support of global conservation efforts.

“Inhale” features the sounds of the critically endangered Regent Honeyeater and serves as a reminder of the beauty of nature and the responsibility to protect it (nature sounds: upper left, yellow and white). 

“Exhale” features the last known recording of the Christmas Island Pipistrelle, leaving a legacy for this recently lost species in the hope of protecting others (nature sounds: mid/upper right to upper left).