Category: Allēna’s Posts

Hi, everyone! This is Allēna. Today’s post is a treasure the incredible creator Falon Muire and my system have been working on for some time. We have been having a gorgeous freeform interview about Falon’s art and well-lived life where our energy and time permit, not rushing a goddamn thing. I daresay the results are something sacred. I’ll post our conversation below for your reading pleasure:

Our Conversation

Ashley: Okay! First question, and please ramble as much as you would like – how would you describe yourself and your work to someone or a group of people who have never heard of you before, but are definitely interested in you and what you do?

Falon: I would describe myself as a Renaissance gremlin— someone who likes to explore many types of visual and performance art, and treat the arts as a both a reflective and social practice, while keeping in mind how critical whimsy and spontaneity is!

I love to work with my hands and to work slowly, so sometimes relatively small projects can span months or years of work as I live my life around works in progress.
Both individual and collaborative works are something I enjoy, and making gifts for people is one of the things I hold most sacred in my own spiritual practice.

In terms of media I work with— my favorite experiences include painting, drawing, dance and choreographing, vocal music, amateur poetry, and fiber arts, including sewing, knitting, and embroidery.

My most frequent subject matter is centered around what I live and know! I often draw portraits of my dogs and other family members’ pets. I am working on a mural in our kitchen doorway of native flowers that I have found growing in our yard. I also make art about my experience as a member of many communities: I am non-binary trans, bisexual, neurodivergent, disabled, chronically ill— even among so many communities, I know that my experience is one-of-a-kind, and our uniqueness is just as good a place to start as our oneness when creating.

Ashley: This is fucking beautiful if I may say so. I think all great artists are all like that in a way. One of a kind even among community and that’s what makes collaborations so awesome. We live our lives as art and weave art into our lives. Continuing on this theme: What was your favorite collaboration you’ve ever done? What made you seek out the collaborator? Why was it so special to you?

Falon: Thank you so much 🥹🥹 I agree and I also think everyone has the capacity to create honest art when given the right kind of support!

One of the more recent collaborative creations that I really love is a skirt I made for my husband. He picked the fabric and told me everything he would like it to have— it’s a light yellow flannel a-line skirt with one pocket and a side zip. There are very cute bees on it. It is not something I would have made on my own for him, nor would I have made it for myself— I love that I could make something with him that is both aesthetic and functional! Plus, I am very grateful to have the chance to make clothing instead of purchasing it!

Ashley: On the topic of having the right kind of support in creating honest art, do you think healthy, healing relationships (of any form) are also a form of art? If so, could you go into more detail there? I’m very curious to get your perspective there.

Falon: That is a very interesting question, I hadn’t thought about relationships in that way— I don’t know if I have a full answer, but I definitely have thoughts ☺️

My first instinct is to compare/contrast how I view capitol a Art and relationships. They both involve a process of creation, and of individual interpretation and perspective. When I think about art and creation, I often have a frame of limitation in mind— when is this project “done,” or what are the bounds of this medium? How much of myself can I give to this project, in spoons, in free time? Are there any risks involved or safety measures to take?
These are also questions that can apply to relationships. When I think of healthy relationships, there is a medium of communication that.. hmm.. is something I have not been able to achieve through the limitations of an artistic project. Or, at least, the limitations that I have placed on my own projects so far!

Related to this: I went to an art museum with a friend once, and there were (maybe) five portraits in a series of a cow, each more abstract than the last. The friend I was with insisted that by portrait 3 (or something I don’t quite remember), the image was no longer a cow. I maintain that all five paintings were cows, but I understand that the paintings literally did not look like cows — acknowledgement of that disagreement was a collaborative effort, honest, and unique, and I am not sure if either of us would qualify it as art.

In short, I don’t know!

Ashley: That’s completely fair, and I still appreciate your perspective even without a fully fledged answer! I think it’s a fascinating thought, and one that can’t fully be explained in words.

Related to that, and to an earlier point you made about art being a social practice, is any of your process a conversation with yourself, with the medium you’re working with, or with the world/your life as a whole?

Falon: I would say that my art is communication with myself always! It’s something I want and need to do, and taking the time to create is an act of love and recognition of those wants and needs. When I make art about my identity and what I see in the world around me, it is also in part a commentary to the audience— literally commenting on (and asking questions about) what I have experienced and observed, and how it makes me feel.

Some of the most healing art I have made is art that has helped me process trauma and grief from things I have already talked about in therapy on numerous occasions (and with multiple health professionals). There is no One Cure for chronic illnesses and trauma as neurologically integrated as cPTSD, and utilizing art as an expression of the isolation of that experience (and the experiences that caused the traumas themselves) steps back and forth between an internal, self-validation of how difficult a struggle life can be, and a way to express to others exactly how important I find creation and empathy to be. Empathy is a necessary part of healthy relationships, with others and with self, and the curiosity and understanding that can be generated from this kind of reflection is, for me, the core of that empathy.

Ashley: I have a question to piggyback off of what you said here: have you ever found a work of art by another artist in any medium that made you feel seen? Did it surprise you? And could you tell me a bit about the experience?

Falon: It’s more so that I connect with specific media forms than pieces! Often when I find something that moves me to tears, it’s music. I love and appreciate visual art, but music and spoken poetry touch on something special. I think it’s in part due to its place in time— even a recording of a song is played, has a duration, and then is over. One can look at (for example) a painting for as long as they wish without changing what the piece is, at its foundation. With a song, you’d have to play it over multiple times to get to a place of familiarity with it— and still be able to find something new even years down the line. This isn’t an experience that is as prevalent in fixed visual media, at least for me!
I find dance and performance art to fall into this same study of the Present, the Now, and I think it’s that connection to life (always lived Now) that makes me so susceptible to that emotional impact.

CN description of mental illness symptoms

I am very open about my mental health, and one symptom I deal with due to trauma is a sense of visceral foreshortening— a kind of desperation for survival, and a sense that my life is already over and that death is imminent. Having an aural anchor helps to calm me immensely, and hearing other musicians express these feelings and experiences that are either very similar to what I’ve been through or are similar to what I want to be gives me a chance to participate in my own life, if that makes sense.

I have a playlist of songs titled “💡” that I have connected with in the way I think you’re describing— that is, songs that have touched and shaped me throughout the years in this way.

Ashley: Oooo, we definitely resonate with that visceral foreshortening feeling. I’m both heartbroken and simultaneously feeling less alone that you also feel that. I can’t take it away, but you absolutely have a companion in the abyss in that regard. Do you ever find that that visceral foreshortening influences the way you create? Are there are any artists that make you feel particularly seen there?

Falon: And we will face the day as comrades— I am grateful for the company and I mourn for us. 🤝

I use creation as a means to both express what I am feeling in terms of that grief— the “what if” questions; what if I hadn’t been traumatized? What if things were different? What if I were “better”?— and also to assure myself that I still have the fight in me to look these things squarely in the face. I will never be un-abused, we know that simply can’t happen, but looking back on the log of creations I have made is a balm against the feeling that my life is just a blink. I can hold on to these memories, touch dried paint and ink and be grateful that I have had so much time to Create thus far.

Upon more reflection, the last artwork that made me feel Seen was a short graphic novel by Joshua Barkman (False Knees on socials) called Woven. It’s the story of a creative barn owl, and while I don’t want to spoil it, the end made me weep to again realize that life in service of others is a life in service to self, and that both self-interest and community interest can be one and the same.

Ashley: As am I. I am grateful you made it, that you are alive, that WE are alive at the same time, and that we are leaving evidence behind that we were indeed Here.

I absolutely agree – the only really sustainable interest in this world is the interest where everyone wins a little bit, in my opinion, and as many people come out of it better as possible.

I get the sense that this is an incredible stopping place to an amazing interview – thank you so much for your time and conversation. This was sacred 💛

Falon: Thank YOU my friend! This was incredibly cathartic and I agree, indeed sacred. An absolute honor! 💛

Ashley: You are most welcome!!!

***

Falon is a queer, disabled creator who lives in Maryland with their family, including their belovèd husband. They love drawing pet portraits, painting nonsense on walls, and making up impromptu song parodies about their pit bulls. They create in every medium they can get their silly little hands on.

Accounts:
Falon Muire Art on Facebook
@falonmuireart on Instagram

Donation link:
https://ko-fi.com/falonmuireart