Fragments of a Place: An Interview with Artist Falyn Horrigan By Georgia Stewart

When recalling a familiar person or place, we often think of the small details. You might imagine the view of the tree outside your childhood bedroom window or the smell of jasmine on your walk to school. You may imagine your best friend’s favorite shoes or the color your grandmother always painted her nails. You may think of your mother and know that she's the color purple even if you're not sure why. Our memories of a frequented place or person are often tied to seemingly insignificant details, and this is the core of Falyn Horrigan’s art. Horrigan intentionally builds paintings from these kinds of fragments rather than literal representation. 

Falyn Horrigan is from Toledo, Ohio, and moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, about 5 years ago in search of a stronger creative community. Horrigan has been painting since she was 14 years old and kept it as a hobby while she studied psychology and marketing before making her move.

After moving to Florida and having her work displayed all over her apartment walls, she often had visitors ask to buy her work. This was when Horrigan realized that this could be a real career, so she began creating commissioned paintings and murals in the St. Petersburg area. Horrigan spent the next few years searching for a style that felt unique and true to herself. Last Fall, Horrigan finally arrived at the symbolic visual language that she continues to develop today.

Various elements recur throughout Horrigan’s art, relating to nature and her connection to spirituality. These objects are not meant to function as straightforward illustrations but rather as symbols she likes to leave open to interpretation. One hallmark of Horrigan’s artworks is the gold outlines around the objects she depicts. The gold in her art transforms everyday objects into something visually precious and worthy of attention and preservation. This symbolic language allows Horrigan to represent places and people different from those of a typical landscape or portrait painter. 

Falyn Horrigan, The Offering Tree 

In the past few months, Horrigan has traveled solo across Europe, making the places she visited her newest sources of inspiration. However, she isn’t interested in recreating scenery exactly as it appears. Instead, Horrigan finds that a symbolic, emotionally charged approach is an even more effective way of depicting a place. While staying at a winery in the Douro Valley, Portugal, Horrigan completed a painting of the place. During her stay, she noticed roses, lemons, and grapevines everywhere, which became the major symbols in her piece. She later sold this artwork to a stranger in Lisbon who had grown up in the area, and he felt it perfectly captured the

Douro Valley, even better than a photo could. Horrigan’s approach often communicates memory more effectively than a literal depiction because it draws on the emotional landmarks we associate with a place, and she uses the same approach when depicting people as well. 

Falyn Horrigan, Douro Valley 

Many artists may see commissions as creatively restrictive, but Horrigan sees commissions as an opportunity to expand her ideas. When doing a commission for someone, Horrigan sees it essential to get to know the person who is becoming her muse. These conversations are a major part of her creative process because the other person's experiences allow her to introduce

symbols and ideas that she may not have thought of on her own. Whether depicting a place or a person, Horrigan is distilling an experience into symbolic fragments. 

Falyn Horrigan, Infinite Blue

Horrigan views painting as a deeply meditative and therapeutic experience, especially during periods of intense emotion. She described that when she is painting, it feels less like she is inventing and more like she is receiving, explaining a feeling that she is able to tap into an external stream or frequency of ideas. Horrigan understands art as something that emerges through observation, reflection, and openness rather than through complete control, which is why her paintings feel so intuitive.

Falyn Horrigan, The Path of Light 

Horrigan has a unique perspective on memory, representation, and emotions that drives the way she creates art. Her paintings preserve emotional impressions rather than physical appearances, and her work transforms ordinary objects into the extraordinary by linking them to meaningful experiences. Horrigan invites viewers to create their own connections with her work, matching

their own memories with the symbols that appear in her paintings. We don’t remember everything, but we remember fragments, and Horrigan paints these fragments to reveal the essence of a person or place in a way that resonates beyond literal representation. 

See more of Falyn Horrigan on her social media and website: 

Instagram: @creationsbyfal 

TikTok: @creationsbyfal 

Website: https://falynhorrigan.com/