I’ve been drawing my whole life and playing music since high school in eastern Long Island, NY. I studied music at Harvard, and during the summers I worked at a prosthetic hand laboratory in NYC. For my thesis I created an immersive electronic rainforest from field recordings I made from bugs and birds in Australia. Upon graduating from Harvard, I was awarded a fellowship for a year of purposeful travel in Europe. I studied electronic music and traditional Irish music in London and Dublin, and did some work at MIT’s Media Lab Europe.

Aiming to combine my dual interests in art and music, I entered a Master of Fine Arts program at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. There I studied Intermedia with sound sculptor Phil Dadson. This program culminated in a simultaneous concert in Auckland and Austin, TX using an interface I designed to transform music from across the globe into animated visuals. I then moved to Austin, helped curate multimedia art events, assembled the Austin Cobra Players to perform improvisational game pieces, and performed audiovisual electroacoustic shows.

After two years in the south, New York City seduced me. I got involved with the musical scenes of the city by promoting classical music from publisher G. Schirmer and performing bass guitar with musicians such as Jack Dishel (Only Son) and Regina Spektor. During this time I also began my solo electronic music project, How Town.

Eager to protect my drawing skills from atrophy, I took a job in 2006 as the Forensic Artist for the Suffolk County Police Department in my native Long Island. For two years I drew thieves, kidnappers, and other criminal suspects while interviewing crime witnesses. My training included a three-week course in composite facial drawing, age progression, and post-mortem imaging at the FBI Academy in Quantico, VA.

In 2008, the creative environment and milder climate drew me west to the Bay Area of California. After a year of freelance illustration and sound design, I accepted a job working in the Art Department at Lucasfilm’s visual effects studio Industrial Light & Magic. I worked there for two years, helping to create concept art for films such as Super 8, Pirates of the Caribbean 4, and Cowboys & Aliens, while also teaching Photoshop. During this time I joined the band Odds of Survival, for which I play drums, sing, and compose.

In October 2011 I was featured as a pumpkin carver on the Food Network mini-series Halloween Wars (which my team, Bling Bats, won). For Halloween I was invited to carve pumpkins to decorate the White House lawn. I run The Invisible Underground, my organic sculpture company. I am available for contract work and commissions, and you can contact me at sf {at} shawnfeeney {dot} com.