The idea of the piece formed after observing a collection of art from the Deviantart collective. One of the works listed was Natasha Levandoski’s Trust Me which triggered the concept of the work. The piece reflects on some of the artists I have encountered over the last few years. The primary focus of the work is the exploration of artistic style and detail through rhythmic and harmonic densities. Each miniature selects specific aspects of each piece of art and explores it musically. Ryne “Todroki” Siesky (b. 1996) composed Art Miniatures in 2018, and it was published in 2023.

I. Sunset Over Court
Patrick Connolly’s Sunset Over Court depicts a bustling street of students in Athens, Ohio. The piece outlines the passing of silhouettes in the dwindling sunset, as well as other static elements of the work. Sunset Over Court is a reflection about the struggles and tribulation of the college experience.

II. Trust Me
Natasha Levandoski’s Trust Me presents a person’s eerie transformation into insanity. The piece begins with a disjunct ‘voice’ that eventually splits into two arguing ‘voices,’ representative of the psychotic breakdown. This miniature explores a specific region during the early stages of the transformation.

III. Spotlight: RVA
Paul Donahue’s Spotlight: RVA depicts Richmond, VA from the Belle Isle Bridge. Paul created the work on digital graphite to better represent the intersections between art and reality. This miniature embraces Richmond through a series of semi-pointillistic music references present in the city’s diverse culture. Some quotes derive from the No BS Brass Band, Marcus Tenney, and the Weekend Plans. Elements from George Russell’s “Lydian Chromatic Concept” are incorporated into the work.

IV. Rising
Originally entitled Pink Graveyard, Vivienne Lee’s work depicts an abstract graveyard using oil paint and Procreate. We agreed on an alternate interpretation which led to the new title Rising. The miniature musically depicts the crippled and tattered souls of a forgotten graveyard and their crooked ascension into Heaven.

For more information about Todroki visit their composer page.