Synesthesia refers to the uniting of the senses: when the reader transfers ‘qualities from one sensory domain to another’ (Heyrman, 2005, np) by translating experience into a psychological reaction. For example, comprehending colour as sensation, like warm, cold, loud or silent and so forth, describes a synesthetic reaction (McCloud, 1994: 123). Because art relies on sensory appeal the manipulation of synesthetic effects within comics gives the creator an opportunity to engineer analogies and metaphors into the visual landscape of a narrative (Heyrman, 2005, np). Describing the method Sarah Wyman adds that:
…a metaphoric relationship develops in which form stands in for feeling/sensed experience and that the reader/viewer makes the leap via figuration, signified linguistically or graphically… one witnesses great technical control of rhythm, gravity and balance. These considerations communicate both the artist’s primary experience (actual or imagined) and reflect the contours of the potential viewer’s perceptual processes.
(Wyman, 2010: 41)
Comics Forum 