Nocturnal reflections

Merlyna Lim
Nocturnal Reflections — 2023
Acrylic on canvas, 30″ × 40″ (76 cm x 110 cm)
MusicArt series

Music pairing:
Etude in E minor
Composed by Merlyna Lim, 2023

Beneath a dark, starlit sky, the spires and shadows of Ottawa’s Parliament rise quietly, while the canal mirrors the city’s lights in shifting, colourful reflections. Streetlamps line the water, their glow trembling like gentle pulses across the rippling surface.

The music captures this luminous movement: dynamic and flowing, each note tracing the dance of light on water. Together, painting and music evoke a nocturnal city alive with contrasts — stillness and motion, shadow and brilliance, night suspended between reflection and radiance.

Nocturnal Reflections (painting) – Etude in E Minor (music)