Caley Feeney is a Los Angeles-based visual artist and musician. She makes art using a wild potpourri of materials, including drawings, paintings, graphic design, sculpture, music, toys, t-shirts, and textiles. But she tells us her favourite mediums are dance, laughter, and jokes.
What’s the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?
First of all I’m not a morning person, haha, generally, unless I absolutely have to be. So I try to structure my life such that mornings are not particularly prominent on the schedule. I was born at night, so I always refer to that as my reasoning for it. I don’t dislike mornings at all, in fact I like them, but what can I say, I yam what I yam.
To answer the question more fully, I usually check my phone immediately for time, emails, ig and texts. Then snooze a little longer. I try to open my window and curtains as soon as I get out of bed—for myself and the spirit of the room. Gotta keep that chi flowing :-)
On my best days I make my bed as a clear transition marker, but coffee might come first.
Photo by Mario Miron, from Canio Mirror at Gern en Regalia, New York
What do you eat for breakfast?
Ok, I tried to answer this with my aspirations for what that would look like, but to be honest I don’t usually eat breakfast. I’ll maybe make eggs a couple hours into being up or just have lunch. But I usually just have coffee.
When do you do your best work?
I think I do my best work when I have no other obligations or things I could be doing in that moment. Some of my favourite drawings I’ve started on flights. I was dog-sitting for a friend and her mom over the summer in northern California and did some of my favourite drawings then. I don’t do well under stress and my worst work is made for deadlines. I started saying no to group show invitations, shows in general, etc, because I realized it’s just terrible when I make fresh work for something like that. I’ll still do them occasionally, but I know to expect that the energy of making will be different. Sometimes something will seem very urgent, but it’s different when it comes from within.
Why do you make art?
To discover new perspectives in thought and form…to bring joy, to transform and let go of emotional and psychological confusion and pain. To survive.
What does art-making bring to your life?
Peace. Catharsis. Light. Dancing. A Way Through. Without art, living just wouldn’t be worth it, or maybe even possible for me.
What was the first medium you worked with?
Haha. Probably macaroni or finger paints.
What is your favourite medium?
Dancing, laughter, jokes. Honestly, I don’t have one. Whatever feels right for the expression. I love making little video collages with spoken text excerpts and sound editing. This can be more cathartic or creative for me than a still image, text chunk or piece of clothing. The human voice and the ability to edit sound is so powerful and full of potential..I hope to prioritize it more. However I predominantly make work on paper or found vintage clothing and pieces I find interesting in some way.
When not creating work, what is your favourite pastime?
Listening to music, singing, dancing, going on hikes, being with friends. Watching films and animation. Seeing how people are imagining so much and expressing; positing and living new and/or alternate realities, mindsets, and states of being.
List three things that inspire you.
House Music and Dance Gems. Old toys and craft books. Vintage softcore films and their soundtracks.
Who is your celebrity crush?
Hm, I don’t think I really do that kind of thing. Right now my favourite song is “Be Thankful For What You Got” by William DeVaughn.
What is your most prized possession?
My first inclination is to say my strong sense of self or my capacity to feel so intensely. My imagination and ability to see so many different things in a single view. Being able to hear music. I’m not sure how to answer concisely. As far as physical possessions go I don’t have a favourite item.I think I cherish my friends more than anything.
Support Caley by wearing one of her wonderful textile creations, available HERE.
Caley Feeney
PUBLISHED IN ISSUE 18
Caley Feeney is a Los Angeles-based visual artist and musician. She makes art using a wild potpourri of materials, including drawings, paintings, graphic design, sculpture, music, toys, t-shirts, and textiles. But she tells us her favourite mediums are dance, laughter, and jokes.
What’s the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?
First of all I’m not a morning person, haha, generally, unless I absolutely have to be. So I try to structure my life such that mornings are not particularly prominent on the schedule. I was born at night, so I always refer to that as my reasoning for it. I don’t dislike mornings at all, in fact I like them, but what can I say, I yam what I yam.
To answer the question more fully, I usually check my phone immediately for time, emails, ig and texts. Then snooze a little longer. I try to open my window and curtains as soon as I get out of bed—for myself and the spirit of the room. Gotta keep that chi flowing :-)
On my best days I make my bed as a clear transition marker, but coffee might come first.
Photo by Mario Miron, from Canio Mirror at Gern en Regalia, New York
What do you eat for breakfast?
Ok, I tried to answer this with my aspirations for what that would look like, but to be honest I don’t usually eat breakfast. I’ll maybe make eggs a couple hours into being up or just have lunch. But I usually just have coffee.
When do you do your best work?
I think I do my best work when I have no other obligations or things I could be doing in that moment. Some of my favourite drawings I’ve started on flights. I was dog-sitting for a friend and her mom over the summer in northern California and did some of my favourite drawings then. I don’t do well under stress and my worst work is made for deadlines. I started saying no to group show invitations, shows in general, etc, because I realized it’s just terrible when I make fresh work for something like that. I’ll still do them occasionally, but I know to expect that the energy of making will be different. Sometimes something will seem very urgent, but it’s different when it comes from within.
Why do you make art?
To discover new perspectives in thought and form…to bring joy, to transform and let go of emotional and psychological confusion and pain. To survive.
What does art-making bring to your life?
Peace. Catharsis. Light. Dancing. A Way Through. Without art, living just wouldn’t be worth it, or maybe even possible for me.
What was the first medium you worked with?
Haha. Probably macaroni or finger paints.
What is your favourite medium?
Dancing, laughter, jokes. Honestly, I don’t have one. Whatever feels right for the expression. I love making little video collages with spoken text excerpts and sound editing. This can be more cathartic or creative for me than a still image, text chunk or piece of clothing. The human voice and the ability to edit sound is so powerful and full of potential..I hope to prioritize it more. However I predominantly make work on paper or found vintage clothing and pieces I find interesting in some way.
When not creating work, what is your favourite pastime?
Listening to music, singing, dancing, going on hikes, being with friends. Watching films and animation. Seeing how people are imagining so much and expressing; positing and living new and/or alternate realities, mindsets, and states of being.
List three things that inspire you.
House Music and Dance Gems. Old toys and craft books. Vintage softcore films and their soundtracks.
Who is your celebrity crush?
Hm, I don’t think I really do that kind of thing. Right now my favourite song is “Be Thankful For What You Got” by William DeVaughn.
What is your most prized possession?
My first inclination is to say my strong sense of self or my capacity to feel so intensely. My imagination and ability to see so many different things in a single view. Being able to hear music. I’m not sure how to answer concisely. As far as physical possessions go I don’t have a favourite item. I think I cherish my friends more than anything.
Support Caley by wearing one of her wonderful textile creations, available HERE.