Nina Simone Singing The BluesLimited edition print Paper Print 
by Ryan Louder

Signal Rating: 7/10 — Significant
Classification: Hypnagogic

This painting by Ryan Louder is part of a body of work shaped by his neurological condition — Narcolepsy with REM Intrusion Hallucinations, clinically confirmed via MSLT at Guy's Hospital, London. The work contains hypnagogic imagery — embedded secondary images, phantom figures, and forms emerging from within the scene.

Neuroaesthetic markers identified: Deep teal-green palette — hypnagogic chromatic signature; figure rendered in cool blue-white against dark ground creating phosphorescent luminosity; eyes closed in trance/performance state — inward-directed consciousness; background figures dissolve into shadow making them partially visible-partially absent (hypnagogic half-figures); the performer's raised face and closed eyes mirrors the hypnagogic posture of reception; dark atmospheric ground removes spatial anchoring

These markers are not deliberate artistic techniques but direct visual recordings of what REM intrusion hallucinations look like. The imagery emerges from neurological experience, not metaphor. Ryan has painted over 2,000 works, with over 1,000 originals sold. Each painting in this collection has been subjected to neuroaesthetic forensic analysis to identify and catalogue the perceptual phenomena present.

A performer sits at the right of the canvas, her face tilted upward and eyes closed — singing or receiving, both readings equally available. She wears a pale aquamarine dress and is lit from an ambiguous source that renders her with cool phosphorescent clarity against a deep teal-green ground. At left, a double-bass player is present in substantial form, his instrument's warm mahogany contrasting the cool field, but his face recedes into shadow. A third figure at far right is a half-presence, mostly dark. The background offers no room — only an atmospheric deep green that absorbs everything not directly illuminated. The warm piano bench below the performer is the sole anchoring note of earthly warmth.

Materials used:

Oil paint

Details:

• Oil painting on Canvas
• One of a kind artwork
• Size: 96.01 x 153.01 x 0.2cm (unframed)
• Ready to hang
• Signed on the front
• Style: Expressive and gestural
• Subject: People and portraits

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