STATE OF MIND : The Art of Metaphysics

To the untrained eye, Diane Curran’s portraits resemble psychedelic Rorschach tests. That’s because she doesn’t bother with faces or figures of her subjects: She paints portraits of their energy patterns.

“I started seeing pictures of light and color in my mind when I was 4 years old,” says the Sherman Oaks-based metaphysical artist, who began painting as a hobby more than 20 years ago. “Over the years, I’ve just learned to focus these perceptions without editing them with my rational mind.”

Her inner vision became so acute three years ago that it provided a substitute income when she lost her job as vice president of account services at an advertising firm.

Curran’s subjects needn’t worry about makeup or bad hair days, but they need to be ready for a pre-portrait chat. “People tell me about memorable dreams, relationships, childhood wishes, life goals and local events,” says Curran, left. “Sometimes a vision comes to me in an instant, like turning on a movie screen and there it appears. I think the longest it’s taken is a month.” Once Curran receives her mystic message of color and light patterns, it takes her about two weeks to finish a portrait, which costs between $300 and $450.

And even though her career change was not a particularly lucrative one, she says she would never go back to advertising. “It’s a completely finished chapter,” she says. “I’ve come to believe this is the era of the post-moneyed society, but the majority of people haven’t figured that out yet.”