We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Katelyn Fay. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Katelyn below.
Katelyn , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
I recently finished a new album and series of photography, music videos and paintings all about the same personal experiences. I went through a series of really devastating friend breakups and a romantic relationship break up all around the same time. These were all people that i heavily tied my identity to; they were my roots, my home, and made me feel heavily seen in a world i often feel misunderstands or doesn’t truly see me so it left me feeling really unstable and alone. Some of it was my own choice and some was not. During this time i started having bad anxiety attacks because i felt so out of control of my life, to the point when i started to feel like giving up altogether. I realized for so long i’ve been trying to shrink myself to make others happy, to be be everyone else’s anchor until i realized no one was mine and i had nothing left in me to anchor myself. Because of these friendship endings and the ending with the man i always thought was my soulmate, my end game, i had kind of a “dark night of the soul” as they say; a large part of me died along with all of them. I’ve been quietly mourning them and the person i was that led me here. For so long my life was on a trajectory until one day it switched and i realized i’m alone and thats when i realized i’m all i have and i have to relearn to be brave, take risks again and figure out who i always was..before the world told me what i am.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Yes! So I’m a mixed media visual artist. My main mediums i love to work with are painting, drawing, writing, film/video, photography, music production & singing, and creating diy clothing with my artwork (occasionally). I try to focus in on one medium at a time depending on what i need to get out in that moment, but it could also just be add that i feel like i have to spread out my thoughts in every possible way. I recently finished my third self recorded and produced album, “is this really goodbye forever?” which is now streaming everywhere, and that took me over a year to complete. In addition to my album, i made accompanying music videos for several of the new songs and finished around 15 new paintings about the same personal experiences as the music. All of the work deals with the same ideas just in different mediums. I think what sets me apart is that i work in many mediums and i am not afraid to make work about my own personal experiences; both in the story of the lyrics or the art but also literally..i’m always at the forefront of my art. I just want to be seen and I think that’s what i’m most proud of; that i try to never hide away from being myself to the public even when it’s not super pretty. Because i want others to know it’s okay to be hurt, imperfect, flawed, damaged, or wild, free, childlike, messy, and emotional: all of it. We don’t have to be curated and aesthetic, we are humans. Since a young age ive always loved singing, dancing, and expressing myself because i felt safest when i was in my own world surrounded by the things i enjoy and that inspire me.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
I had to relearn that not everyone deserves my time, love and care. I can’t be afraid to hurt people’s feelings rather than follow my heart. I can’t continue to shrink my wildness, my emotional depth, my messiness and freedom just because i want to be accepted and seen. A few years ago after a breakup i felt really lost and alone but because of the breakup i really didn’t have much confidence in myself or self worth so when a random guy messaged me on instagram asking me out on a date i accepted it without knowing him at all or even being sure i found him compatible, but because i was in a vulnerable state i accepted. We ended up going on a few dates and it got weirdly serious too quickly and he ended up giving me herpes and claimed he didn’t know he had it. It was super painful literally and mentally and it’s something i now have to live with for the rest of my life. It affected my self worth and i continued to retreat further away. Basically i realized recently that most of the people; both in interactions with people and in my personal life and dating life gravitated towards me mainly because of who i projected myself to be through my art, my clothing, and my appearance. And i felt like after a while I was always performing but i was rarely being seen for the girl underneath the artwork. So now i’m just the stripped down raw version of myself and when i feel like performing i do. But not because it’s expected of me.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
That’s a tough question but i think it’d be great if it was easier for artists to apply for financial assistance, perhaps a way to submit all the work you’ve made at the end of the year to receive a yearly salary compensation..hear me out!! As artists we create so much, because of the need to just simply make the world a better more beautiful place and rarely do we get compensated for it (we do it because our hearts have a desperation to do it; thats the difference between when someone asks what do you do for work vs when we say i’m an artist. it’s a soul purpose not a job..) so we don’t value ourselves enough and society rarely does either so we create, share it, and rarely do we get compensated. (I know it’s possible to get compensated consistently to make a living off of it!) But i guess i just wish there was still some kind of way artists could live rent free in exchange for our services! Haha. I also think itd be great for more third space centers that’d encourage everyday people to create and learn in safe comfortable spaces with people from all walks of life; spaces like colleges but for grown adults to utilize. I want everyone to have free access to books, art, art supplies, music equipment, dance studios, etc places for people to go in to let loose, create, and learn without any expectations. Basically gyms with art and music spaces and libraries!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://katelynfaena.wixsite.com/katelynfay/portfolio-c1n23
- Instagram: @Katelynfaena | @katelynfay.art | @kfaena.tv
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/katelynfaena/
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@katelynfaena
- Soundcloud: https://m.soundcloud.com/katelynfaena
- Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2KhPQydWkhfUNfiYxAxhVB?si=4CRvPRntQIa-JJr5NDaAVg
(Katelyn Faena on Spotify & Apple Music!)
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