Meet Haley Bullington

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Haley Bullington. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Haley below.

Haley, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?

Keeping creativity alive suggests that there is a possibility for her to die. Creating and making art does not require creativity, but rather the action of creating. keep creativity alive comes by working even when I feel uninspired, allowing the act of making to lead and not judging her quality.
 I find that mindfulness in the mundane rhythms of life creates space for creativity to return. Through creating, eventually, comes creativity. Sometimes, the most alive ideas emerge from these quiet, liminal moments.
Creativity is often mistaken as a fun or joyous experience where ideas are freely flowing, when in reality, creativity can be heavy; not meant to be something easy to keep “alive.” Creativity is a life cycle; in order for her to stay alive, she must die and be reborn again.
As creativity engages with the imagination and the deportation from traditional thinking, there is a break in reality which unlocks access to the avant-garde. However, finding a balance remains essential so that she does not take over in a way that becomes uncontrollably detrimental. Creativity is always alive; we simply stop talking to her— a choice to not engage with the silent visual language of art.
Creativity lives in the in-between spaces, in the process of making; she metamorphoses here. To live there, in the in-between space of creating, I have learned to work closely with failure. Engaging in multiple ideas not just through thought, but by creating, here, living creativity is born.
To keep creativity alive is to absorb the creations around you: their smell, touch, taste, sound, and sight. My creativity does not die because creativity is not mine to own; she is shared and alive, a continued conversation passing between artist, art, and observer.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I am a multimedia artist based in Houston, TX, and my work explores the tension between natural environmental forces and my experience through my mental disasters . I’m also deeply interested in the human figure within surrealist landscapes, pushing the sense of the body existing outside of reality. My imagery often shifts from blurry self-portraiture with a smooth paint application coupled with chaotic, spiraling lines that represent the hurricane exploding in my mind. An important element in my work is the presence of cartoon figures dressed in high fashion and couture, while also paying homage to the blurred portraiture hidden throughout the painting as an Easter egg of unity hidden in the artwork.
These cartoon characters embody the idea of existing outside reality, they face the trials of life, but on a new, elevated level of consciousness. They serve as a visual metaphor for the tension between appearing composed, and the internal chaos that many feel.
For me, texture becomes a record of resilience, each mark a remnant of what came before. Through this process, I aim to capture the restless, transformative energy that exists between order and disorder, reality and the subconscious.
Professionally, I’m focused on deepening this investigation through new bodies of work and preparing to apply to MFA programs to expand my practice both conceptually and technically.
At the core of my brand is a commitment to honoring the cyclical nature of life and creativity, embracing both destruction and renewal as necessary parts of growth.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

3 Inspiring Lessons That Shaped My Journey

1. Be receptive, not reactive.

Critique is valuable, but it’s also subjective. I’ve learned to listen carefully, consider deeply, and then decide what serves the work.

2. Stay consistent.

The tortoise and the hare fable became real to me when I burned out early in my practice. I realized that consistency—not intensity—is what builds momentum. Like Newton’s First Law, “an object at rest stays at rest unless acted upon.” If I keep showing up, the work begins to move. Doechii said it best: “Life is like a bike, it don’t move unless you pedaling.” That rhythm keeps me in motion.
Beyoncé’s line in Freedom—“ I’ma keep running, ’cause a winner don’t quit on themselves” —has carried me through days when doubt was louder than drive. It’s simple, but it stays with me.

3. Follow the artists and theories that shake something loose in you.

My practice is grounded in themes of destruction, renewal, and transformation. I’m drawn to feminist theory, surrealism, and abstraction, especially as they relate to the body and the subconscious. I think a lot about what it means to reconstruct something from ruin.
Artists like Cecily Brown, Wangechi Mutu, Christina Quarles, Summer Wheat, Grace Weaver, Michaela Yearwood-Dan, Dana Schutz, Marlene, Dumas and designers like Alexander McQueen, Chanel, and Gucci have taught me that chaos and elegance, pain and beauty, can live in the same frame. That’s what I’m trying to do—build a visual language that’s honest about complexity.
My paintings often blur self-portraiture into abstraction, with spiraling lines that echo hurricanes in both nature and psyche. Lately, I’ve been introducing cartoon figures in couture—surreal avatars that live outside of reality but still face it. They stand at the intersection of delusion, style, and survival. They’re exaggerated, but they’re honest—
reminders that we can fall apart and still show up like we’ve got it all together. That duality is the core of my work.

And I’ve learned that beginning, just starting, is often the hardest and most important step. There’s a quote often attributed to Freud that I think about a lot: “The quickest path to success is to start.” I’ve wasted time waiting for the perfect idea or the perfect moment. But creativity lives in motion, not hesitation. Once I begin, the work finds its shape.

Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?

The most impactful thing my parents did was support my decision to go to art school. I originally thought I’d become a veterinarian or a dentist, but once SCAD visited my high school, I knew I had to go there. From that moment on, they nurtured my ambition, encouraging me through my undergraduate degree and even helping me build a studio space. My parents have always been behind me, wanting me to fly.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.haleyfaith.org
• Instagram: @haleybu11ington
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@haleyfaithbullington

Image Credits

Cover image (1), image 4,6 7, and 8 are: Sara Buchsbaum
3rd image: Marina Mendoza
5th image: Bob Albrecht
2 unknown