Exploring music and visual art relationship through inquiry graphic: A semiotic analysis of visual art students’ work

This research explores the relationship between music and visual art through the visual artworks of four Indonesian students. Focusing on eight paintings inspired by two types of instrumental music, the study employs a qualitative multi-method approach, including Inquiry Graphics and Peircean’s semiotic analysis, to understand the creative process. The study focuses on eight paintings inspired by two instrumental pieces: Yiruma’s “River Flows in You” and Clifford Brown’s “Joy Spring.” Through free-painting experiments and semi-structured interviews, the research results in two key approaches to transduction (intersemiotic translation): one that reflects the formal qualities of music through visual elements and another that interprets the music through the lens of personal and cultural narratives. The result of this study underscores the value of multimodality in art education, showing how this approach enhances creativity and cognitive engagement across disciplines, including music, visual art, fashion, and product design.