Teddy Flanagan: Painting the World Through Synaesthesia.
- Mark Walmsley FRSA AGSM
- Jun 20
- 5 min read
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Meet Teddy Flanagan.
In this interview, I created Teddy Flanagan's fantasy cultural year from the answers to some easy questions to which there were no wrong answers.
I had a magic wand and a time machine at my disposal, so expect some surprises, laughs, anecdotes and conversational detours.
At just nineteen years old at the time of publication, Teddy Flanagan is already developing an artistic voice that is both distinctive and deeply personal.
Based between Oxfordshire and Loughborough, Teddy is a multidisciplinary artist currently completing an Art and Design Foundation Diploma before progressing to a Fine Art BA degree.
Her practice spans painting, photography, poetry, printmaking, moving image, and installation, united by a fascination with perception, identity, memory, and human connection.
Central to much of her recent work is her experience of synaesthesia, a neurological phenomenon in which sensory experiences become interconnected. For Teddy, people, places, sounds, conversations, and memories can appear as combinations of colour, shape, texture, and movement. Rather than viewing the world solely through conventional visual forms, she experiences it as a rich landscape of emotional and sensory associations.
This discovery led to one of her most successful bodies of work: a series of abstract portraits translating friends, family members, and personal relationships into colour fields, shapes, and compositions inspired by how they appear to her through synaesthesia.
The work resonated strongly with audiences. At her first major exhibition at Oundle School's Yarrow Gallery, Teddy sold ten of the eleven pieces exhibited, becoming the only student artist in the show to sell work and marking an extraordinary beginning to her professional artistic career.
Alongside her synaesthesia-inspired paintings, Teddy is passionate about photography and poetry, often using both to document and celebrate the natural world. Her work combines observation with emotion, creating pieces that invite audiences to consider alternative ways of seeing and experiencing reality.
Though still at the beginning of her artistic journey, Teddy's work already demonstrates a rare combination of curiosity, originality, technical versatility, and emotional honesty.
Her practice reminds us that art is not simply about what we see. It is also about how we experience the world.
A selection of work by Teddy:
Teddy Flanagan's Fantasy Cultural Year ... with a magic wand and a time machine to hand.
Teddy Flanagan's Fantasy Cultural Year begins where her professional artistic journey truly started: the Yarrow Gallery at Oundle School.
It is a warm June evening and the gallery has a new pop-up café. On the table sit two drinks that perfectly capture Teddy's personality: an aperol spritz and an espresso martini. Beside them lie two books that have shaped her imagination—Under a Dancing Star, a childhood favourite, and All That Glitters, an insider's exploration of the contemporary art world.
The atmosphere is filled with music from Noah Kahan, whose songs Teddy has transformed into visual artworks through her synaesthetic practice.
The artist sits surrounded by the very place that launched her career, reflecting on the remarkable achievement of selling ten of the eleven works in her first significant exhibition.
Then everything changes.
A wealthy - if fictitious - Northamptonshire family foundation approaches Teddy with an extraordinary proposition.
They have become fascinated by her ability to translate human beings into colour, shape, and emotion. They want her to spend a year travelling the world creating portraits of influential figures and cultural leaders in an ambitious international project promoting peace, understanding, and dialogue.
Every expense will be covered. A documentary crew will accompany the journey. Upon her return there will be a major exhibition, a bestselling book, a TED Talk, and a global university lecture tour.
The first stop is Afghanistan, where Teddy meets Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai. Through conversations about education, equality, and human potential, Teddy begins creating a series of synaesthetic portraits exploring how courage itself might look if translated into colour and form.
The journey continues to Florida, where she sits down with the President. The contrast between subjects fascinates her. The project becomes not about politics but about understanding how different personalities, perspectives, and life experiences might be visualised through her unique artistic lens.
The cultural experience accompanying this stage of the journey is a spectacular flamenco performance. The intense rhythms, colours, movement, and emotional expression provide rich inspiration for an artist who already experiences sound visually.
From there, Teddy travels to Stockholm to meet climate activist Greta Thunberg. Here she encounters a groundbreaking digital art gallery where visitors can step inside artworks using advanced virtual reality technology.
For Teddy, whose work already challenges traditional ways of seeing, the experience feels transformative. It raises exciting questions about how future technologies might help artists communicate experiences that are difficult to describe through conventional media.
The year also includes a series of sporting experiences. Teddy chooses rounders, a game connected to childhood memories, alongside baseball, whose strategic rhythms and visual patterns appeal to her observational nature.
As the journey nears its conclusion, the cultural focus shifts to London.
The week begins with a dream concert featuring Noah Kahan, whose music has played such an important role in Teddy's artistic development.
The theatre choice is a Tennessee Williams play, allowing Teddy to immerse herself in powerful storytelling and complex emotional landscapes.
For dance, she selects ballet, drawn to its combination of movement, discipline, beauty, and visual expression.
Film night takes place not in London but at the spectacular Sphere in Las Vegas. Teddy chooses either Project Hail Mary or Passengers, both stories that combine imagination, wonder, exploration, and human resilience.
The final event is a leisurely lunch shared with two extraordinary figures: Nelson Mandela and Malala Yousafzai.
Both embody qualities Teddy deeply admires—compassion, courage, resilience, and a belief that positive change is possible.
It is a fitting conclusion to a year built around understanding people, bridging differences, and discovering new ways of seeing the world.
Much like Teddy's own art.
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Mark Walmsley FRSA FCIM AGSM
Chief Culture Vulture
Arts & Culture Network
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