Sehnsucht: Artist Caitlin McCann on Visualizing a Feeling

By Caitlin McCann

Sehnsucht is a German word that does not have an English translation; although, it’s commonly translated as “longing” or “yearning,” it’s understood the word is meant to describe a feeling much deeper than that. C.S. Lewis famously called it, “That unnameable something, desire for which pierces us like a rapier at the smell of a bonfire, the sound of wild ducks flying overhead, the title of The Well at the World’s End, the opening lines of ‘Kubla Khan’, the morning cobwebs in late summer, or the noise of falling waves.” Sehnsucht is neither joy nor sorrow but a collision of the two, swelling together until they solidify into one rush of emotion you can feel deep in your bones.

I have been trying to understand my relationship with Brandon, Zack, and Drew since the first time we toured together. I have been trying to understand what the mystical energy is when the four of us are in a room together. I have been trying to understand why I cry after every tour with them. And why I feel nostalgic about moments we are experiencing together for the first time. I am trying to understand the aching surge of joy I feel for them.

Now it makes sense to me that the only word I can use to define my relationship to these three humans, is sehnsucht, a word that doesn’t even have a god damn definition.

These photos are from the summer that just past us.

Caitlin McCann is a visual artist currently based in Chicago, Illinois. Brandon, Drew, and Zack make up Boston based band Vundabar. They’ll be releasing their upcoming album “Either Light” this Spring.