Check out the concept sounds of the “abstract turntable”

Self-taught artist Maria Chavez may look a lot like a DJ playing behind a record player, but the sounds she creates won’t make anyone blow up the dance floor.

Instead, they are like improvisational compositions, emphasizing the unique glitchy noise of a stylus needle scratching the vinyl. The effect is a kind of looped, meditative, abstract soundscape, created entirely by chance and experimentation.

Chavez was born in Lima, Peru but grew up in Houston, where she honed her practice before performing to audiences around the world.

After a four-year sabbatical from brain surgery, Chavez is performing again and will perform again Friday night as part of a sound deadening installation at The Orange Show.

In the audio above, Houston Matters producer Troy Schulze visits a folk art site to speak with Chavez about her unusual art practice. He also shares examples of what her work sounds like.