cloud collecting #41: Arlina Cai
turning darkness to light, feeding creativity with sound, and making space for joy.
Connecting with Brooklyn-based artist Arlina Cai feels like entering the gentle, luminous world of her paintings. I’ve long admired her work, and I hope you find a bit of peace to carry with you after getting to know her and her art.
Arlina Cai is a Brooklyn-based artist who paints as a way to explore the subconscious and find inner peace by surrendering to the unknown. Her intuitively led paintings create an emotional vision of the world that is filled with beauty, depth, and connection.
1. You’ve described your art’s intention as ‘a beacon of warmth, where you can find a new world of peace,’ which resonates with what I feel when I experience your work. Were there early experiences, influences, or artists that sparked your desire to create work that feels so tranquil and ethereal?
My mother is a very spiritual woman, and I would say that she has had the most impact on my understanding of the world, and therefore my artwork. Many of the themes I explore are born from what I have learned from her.
My artwork actually used to be very dark, heavy, and unsettling. It was an outlet for things that I couldn’t express. I had gone through a period in my life where I felt like I was giving everything I had away. All of my energy, all of my time, all of my peace. Taking my art seriously and deciding to do it full time was my way of giving back to myself. After I made that decision, those dark paintings didn’t feel good to me anymore - they weren’t coming to me with the same ease. I started painting just for fun, with no plan, just to be in the present moment, and that’s how I started to find the work that I’m making now. It never occurred to me that people would see them as peaceful, calming, or ethereal. It was just what called to me. Painting has become my way of turning darkness into light. I just want to show that the world can be beautiful.
2. What role does silence, music, or your environment play in your studio practice?
Music and sound is almost like food for my practice. I feed off the frequency of whatever is playing. I’ve personally always been really attracted to soft, melodic music, so it feels natural to have something like that on in the background. Something I can daydream to.
If I’m in the process of painting, I like to listen to something that feels in tune with the work I want to make. If I have to do a lot of heavy, manual labor, like stretching paintings or framing, I like to play more upbeat music that has a rhythm that will carry me forward. It depends on what energy I want to tap into.
There is very rarely silence in my studio. The hum of the city is always right there, for better or for worse!
3. How do you cloud collect (connect to childlike wonder) in your creativity?
I’ve been spending more effort and time doing things that are just for fun. Having fun is so underrated!
I don’t consider painting to be in that category anymore because it’s also my work, but I do still find a lot of fun and joy in it.
So what am I doing that’s “just for fun”? It’s still the same things that I loved as a kid, namely crafting. I make up little art projects just to enjoy. For Lunar New Year, I made hand painted little hongbao envelopes to give to my friends. I’ve taken up knitting again. I got into embossing tin foil. I’m trying to figure out how to make French beaded flowers (it’s so hard). Then, it’s even more fun when you craft with friends.
And reading! And looking at things really closely, trying to notice something I wouldn’t have noticed if I were rushing. There are so many things. The list goes on and on :)
In short, just making sure I’m living life and enjoying it helps me be creative. I’ve lately been predisposed to feeling anxious and in my head (aren’t we all these days?), so doing things that are fun gives me a greater sense of peace and presence. I want to create from a place where I’m full of the wonder that I want to share with the world.
