SONATA was made without camera or tape recorder by handpainting thousands of images onto 16mm clear leader. I had been a painter and musician up to this time. I found the size of my paintings becoming smaller and smaller .... It was a logical and natural step for me to proceed to drawing images directly onto 16mm clear leader. ... It wasn't long before I learned McLaren's method of painting sounds directly on the soundtrack. ... I worked on SONATA like a man possessed, determined to make a film, and a sound film, with no funds to do so. SONATA was made for three dollars worth of clear movie film and five bottles of ink, for a total production cost of nine dollars, plus seven months of my life: fifty hours per week for seven months - sixteen thousand individual frames, each one painted with love and care. ... My overall aesthetic purpose was to shape and compress the tremendous kinetic energy of the handpainted image into a harmonious unit, which could be enjoyed on many levels and with many screenings.

Collection: Museum of Modern Art, NY