Carly Jean Andrews: Not Up for Discussion
⤏ IN CONVERSATION WITH FAYE ORLOVE
⤏ PHOTOS BY IRIS RAY
⤏ MAKE-UP BY KELBY ADAMS
⤏ STYLING BY IVORY WOODS
Carly Jean Andrews is like me if I were better at drawing, better at making Judaism seem cool, and better at wearing high-waisted jeans. Her entire aesthetic is Florida suburbs meets Sunset Strip, and I simply cannot get enough of it. We talked over the phone because #EarthSigns never have more than 20 minutes of free time to meet IRL, and I was blown away by how many times I said, “OMG SAME.” For your sake, many of those times have been omitted.
FAYE ORLOVE: How did you end up been Los Angeles?
CARLY JEAN ANDREWS: Okay, so I moved to New York. I don't know where I should start. I left Florida. I moved to New York, and I moved to Portland. I grew up in Coral Springs,, it's south Florida.
FO: What was that like?
CJA: It was fine. I feel like Florida shapes a lot of my aesthetic now. I think it's cool to be from there, but it was just regular suburbs where I lived. Then I moved to New York when I was 24.
FO: What year did you move to LA?
CJA: Five years ago-ish.
FO: I thought it was longer.
CJA: Maybe it's six now because of COVID, I always have to tack that on.
FO: Time is fake.
CJA: I know. Write that in there. Write that in.
FO: Did you study art at all or just God-given talent?
CJA: Yes, it is God-given, but I did go to University of Central Florida.
FO: Wow. I can't picture you there.
CJA: What do you mean? [laughs]
FO: It seems so regular.
CJA: There's the little punk kids in every town. Florida has their own little area. In Orlando, there's downtown Orlando where all the vintage houses are. Florida reminds me of Philly or something like alt city. It's wacky, it has its wackiness to it.
FO: There are alts everywhere.
CJA: Yes. I was the leader of the alts. [laughs]
“ I usually just get obsessed with something and then I draw iterations of it for a while. Then I'll get it out of my system, and then the same thing will happen again.”
FO: You draw so much. You churn stuff out, it's crazy. I always feel like I'm not doing enough.
CJA: Oh my God. Thank you. I feel I do have a lot of work. I wish that I could take the time to draw things for longer, but like this fast-paced society we live in does not allow for such a thing. I do make work a lot, but I spend more time drawing more drawings than working on one piece. I'm one of those artists that never thinks about an artist statement. I have no vision to interpret. All of my ideas and all of my purpose and stuff just live in my head in an unorganized mess. I usually just get obsessed with something and then I draw iterations of it for a while. Did that make sense? I'll just see something that I need to draw. Then I'll get it out of my system, and then the same thing will happen again.
FO: Do you feel like you have such impressive output because of this Instagram-y need to produce new content constantly, or does it really just feel like you're releasing something?
CJA: I've always drawn every single day for my whole life, and I've always needed to draw. I would be drawing every day anyways, but yes, Instagram.
FO: It doesn't factor in, you'd be drawing this stuff anyway?
CJA: Yes. When I don't post on Instagram, I still draw every day. I don't just draw to post.
FO: Now, we do need to talk about Judaism. [laughs]
CJA: Hell yes.
FO: I love how you're always wearing your Star of David necklace and so very openly Jewish. You make it so cool.
CJA: Thank you. That's so nice. When I was younger, I had some cool Jewish camp counselors in my life. To me, the ultimate adult was a cool Jewish woman that was wearing jewelry and had fake nails and smoked or had big hair. When you are younger and you can't wait to become an adult, you always have an adult in your eyes to mimic. Mine is just like a cool Jewish woman.
FO: That is so cool. I feel like I didn't have that. I always was, by no means ashamed, but I never had pride in being Jewish until I got older and recognized all of the history and all of the hurdles and struggles that the Jewish people have been through and how I should really be proud of my lineage. Was Florida pretty Jewish?
CJA: Yes. Florida is this, it's like California where it's so big that there's so many different types of people in it. It's the same thing. South Florida, there's more cultural diversity, and there's more Jewish people. When I was little, I would go visit my grandma where she lived. Everyone that lived in her apartment building was Jewish. Everyone that waved to me was wearing a giant pinky ring.
FO: That is really just making your aesthetic so full circle for me. The Florida influence.
“To me, the ultimate adult was a cool Jewish woman that was wearing jewelry and had fake nails and smoked or had big hair.”
CJA: I love that. It feels really good. For a really long time, I was really trying to come into my own style, and I feel like recently, I'm finally connecting to it. That has nothing to do with art.
FO: No, that has everything to do with art. I feel the same way. More in touch with the person I actually am and not just flitting around to different identities trying to figure it out.
CJA: Exactly. Yes. I always like straddled the line between being like, "This isn’t totally me, but I want to hang out with you." You always try to fit in, but I'm realizing that everyone is really hot in their own way. You just have to find out the way that you are hot. Like, when I think of myself as a Jewish babysitter from the '80s with fake nails, I'm at my hottest. You have to find your thing, and wearing a band shirt from a boy that liked me in Florida wasn't my thing.
FO: The hottest thing is someone who is comfortable with themselves and confident. Did you get Bat Mitzvahed?
CJA: Yes.
FO: Oh my God. What was the theme?
CJA: The theme was basically pink. I had my Bat Mitzvah a year late. I didn't go to Hebrew school because my mom isn’t religious. I did a program where you basically go to Hebrew school once a week for two years, then you graduate and get to have a shared Bat Mitzvah with everybody in your class.
FO: That's so interesting. What made you want to have that experience? Because I just wanted to play soccer with my friends and stop going to all of my Bar Mitzvah tutoring. I did not want it.
CJA: I’m not sure. But my next door neighbors were like, kosher Jews. I would go to her house for Shabbat dinner sometimes. I would go to temple with her family on random weekends. I liked getting to dress up for temple. There were cookies, and there were boys, and it was different than going to school. I'm sure if my parents made me, I wouldn’t be into it.
FO: My parents did make me and I was NOT into it. [laughs] You've been really into fonts lately. How did you make that pivot?
“Your brain will change. You will become braver, and it'll just happen to you.”
CJA: I've always been interested in fonts and stuff but felt like you can only make fonts if you're a graphic designer and you know about the programs to make it. It's such a world, the font world, it's scary to break into. There's so much law around typography and I’m the most rule following person ever. But during COVID I was just like, "Maybe just try. Who cares? Just relax, there's no rules. I'm sure people that do typography don't even know you exist. No one's going to come for you."
I just started. Every time I do it, I'm teaching myself how to do it. if you can't access being taught something, it is okay to teach yourself.
FO: I feel like you have such a strong visual identity. I instantly know when you've made something. I put all of this stress on myself to have this weird cohesion and my output be so regular." I'm like, "No, these are just things I've made up in my head."
CJA: Yes. I'm going to be the billionth person to say this, but art doesn't go with Instagram. If you're giving yourself a hard time about being an artist because it's not like fitting into the timing of the world right now and Instagram and stuff, it's fine. It's not supposed to.
FO: Okay, I will wrap up, who are you dying to work with or do an illustration for?
CJA: Cher. I need Cher to hire me to draw every single thing she's ever worn. Let me think. I would want to make album art for Cher and Megan Thee Stallion.
FO: And final pregunta, what advice would you give to other aspiring artists? Actually, two final things. What advice would you give to other aspiring artists and then what advice would you tell young Carly?
CJA: For younger artists, ultimately I would just say, "Do things for yourself. Draw like no one's watching." That's my advice, "Draw like no one's watching." Because when I was younger, I used to draw. I would just draw and walk away from the drawing, and the drawing would just live. That's how I learned. That's how I developed my style. I would just draw weird stuff that wasn't even my style, and I would dabble and whatever because no one was expecting anything from me because it wouldn't be seen. That's how you know what you want. If you're always drawing for an audience and people are sitting there waiting to see what you've done next, you don't have that room to play, and then you never can figure it out. You don’t have to post. Ultimately, you have to keep 80 or 90% of your work to yourself so you can feel free. Don't hide it, but it's not up for discussion because it's yours.
FO: What would you tell 12-year-old Carly? Let's say, she is 12, and all of her friends are getting Bat Mitzvahed, but she's not. What would you tell her?
CJA: I think that my advice would be like, "Your brain will change." I used to get so doomy so quickly, so I would say like, "Don't jump to the worst possible conclusion immediately. Your brain will change, and the things you like now and the things you hate now will change. Your brain will change. You will become braver, and it'll just happen to you.” It's just like, "Relax, bitch."
FO: Yes. Relax, bitch.
CJA: "Relax, bitch.”