cloud collecting #51: Cory Feder

I came across Cory Feder’s music several years ago when her mystical, delicate song A Frog’s Wish from her project Yesol surfaced while digging for new music. I was immediately drawn in and wanted to learn more about the artist behind it. Ever since, I’ve been in awe of the many forms of art Cory pours herself into. I always cherish the chance to get to know the minds of creatives whose work I love, and I hope you feel as inspired as I do by her words, art, and music.

Cory Feder (b. 1993, Greensboro, NC) is a multidisciplinary artist working across Colcha, ceramics, drawing, painting and animation. Inspired by the childlike perception of endless wonder, her work lingers in the interplay of the natural world, folklore and the divine. By working with symbols and reinterpreting their meaning through the change of context, Feder creates a visual language that weaves between the conscious and the subconscious. Invoking the origins of nostalgia; its roots meaning both “homecoming” and “pain”, Feder recalls collective memory by carrying forwards traditions of her Korean and Jewish lineage as well as intimate memory from dreams, thoughts and personal memory. Most comfortable in the realm of ambiguity and the unidentified, she explores the possibilities of the collision of unnoticed miracle and consciousness that create the everyday moment. Cory was raised in Denver, CO, received her BFA from School of the Art Institute of Chicago and currently lives and works in Santa Fe, NM.

1. You work across illustration, animation, music, dance and sculpture. What advice would you offer to artists working across multiple disciplines and what are some of the most valuable lessons you’ve learned from moving between different creative mediums?

Really give your all to the one you’re focusing on at the moment and push yourself beyond what you think you can do with it. When there are so many options and ideas for projects, I think it’s easy to become the master of none archetype because there’s an anxiousness to keep moving on to something exciting. However, I think that being multi disciplinary is still a tricky way to present to the world because most people expect one specialty. That’s why it’s important to still keep discipline and challenge yourself to execute each step with care and focus so that your voice is clear and well developed across all mediums.

2. I have included your music in several women of ambient mixes over the years. Could you share a bit about how you first started making music? What role does music play in your creative life today? What do you listen to when you’re working on visual art?

There are several different events that culminated in being able to make music. As a kid, I was trained in flute and then at church was asked to learn how to play guitar so that our youth group could have a praise team. I taught myself guitar and became more confident and curious to pick up other instruments. My dad had gotten a harp for my mom since she wanted to be a harp player but she never picked it up so I started to teach myself how to play harp as well and continued on playing it as my own little thing for years. I never considered myself a singer but right after college, I worked as a pizza delivery girl for a bit and had a lot of time in the car by myself to really enjoy singing and get comfortable with my own voice. From that point, I began writing songs with harp + vocals and slowly started to show friends and play in front of people who were incredibly supportive.

Music is just as important to me as my visual practice. It’s something that I’m always wanting to make more room for and pour more creative energy into. I always loved the idea of getting to animate music videos for my songs and bring the two sides of myself together in harmony. When I’m working on visual art, I really love singing along to all sorts of music. “Air” is probably my all time favorite so I listen to them constantly so lately I’ve been loving Vegyn’s “Blue Moon Safari” as well as his solo work. Other notable names on rotation right now are Duster, The Radio Dept., The Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Ana D. Nostalgic music always carries me through different challenges whatever the scale.

3. How do you cloud collect (connect to childlike wonder) in your creativity?

Sometimes being a beginner at something is the easiest way to access this mindset~ taking a class and learning a new skill. Sometimes it can come from revisiting something really old like looking at sketchbooks from high school to see the ideas that younger me really toiled over. Nostalgic music as I mentioned before is probably my most frequent way. Sometimes old tracks are like capsules of we’ve been in different stages of life and it’s amazing how that can be unlocked immediately upon listening.

**The place to keep up with Cory is her Instagram @yesolpictures.

THANK YOU FOR READING CLOUD COLLECTING! GRATEFUL TO HAVE YOU HERE ☁️☁️☁️