SYNAPSE

ABOUT THE PAINTING:

SYNAPSE: Acrylic on canvas, 20 x 10 IN.

I didn’t  name this piece, my pastor did. I’d finished it the night before our weekly group meetups and the title was escaping me. The vivid ochre explosion juxtaposed against the cooler-toned, geometric background just makes it look ignited. The prominent feature itself does look like a neuron that’s been fired. And, since a synapse is the channel where such electricity occurs, I embraced the title.

British neurophysiologist and Nobel laureate, Sir Charles Sherrington, first used the term “synapse” in 1897 from the Greek words “syn” and “haptein” meaning “together” and “to clasp”, respectively. According to Britannica, a synapse is the site of transmission of electric nerve impulses between two nerves (neurons) or between a neuron and a gland or muscle cell (effector). The thing is, a synapse is the space between the nerves, where an electrical current passes through to relay messaging from nerve to nerve. It’s a name attributed to a nonconnection; but, what happens within that nonconnection is everything that makes us, US, and allows our corporeal vessels to work.

I have always been fascinated by the idea of “the space between”, long before the Dave Matthews song with the same title. It started when I was a kid learning about atoms, being told they were the building blocks of matter yet they never truly touched. There was something strangely profound about the idea that the very core of what makes us and everything around us that we know… well, nothing is connected because there’s always a space, both seen and even unseen. Even so young, I wondered, can really touch each other; can we hold one another? Then, the Dave Matthews song began being played. I realized that it is in that space where the magic happens… synapsis.

The space between
The tears we cry is the laughter keeps us coming back for more
The space between
The wicked lies we tell to keep us safe from the pain
Will I hold you again?

“The Space Between”, Dave Matthews, 2001