Bio

Becky Bailey's artistic practice is an ongoing attempt at resisting the unceasing demands on our time and attention. She makes objects as a way to focus, slow down, and steep herself, and the viewer, in ambiguity, mystery, and unknowns. As part of her process, Becky explores myths and rituals and visits landscapes and spaces that captivate, enchant, and exude the potential for the supernatural. Her interdisciplinary approach involves painting, drawing, collage, printmaking, sculpture, and installation.

Before enrolling as an MFA candidate at the University of Connecticut, Becky completed several residencies, including at Anderson Ranch Arts Center, The Studios at MASS MoCA, and Monson Arts Center, and has shown work in exhibitions across the U.S.

Statement

At some point in my childhood I began making shrines around dead animals I found in the woods. A bat, a bird, a squirrel. Each time I came upon one of these creatures, I’d place sticks, rocks, and a flower, if I could find one, around the body in some esoteric configuration. It wasn’t about making meaning, but about marking the feeling of mystery and unknowability I found there. My memories are filled with these explorations in the woods of northern New Jersey, where I grew up. Finding those animals or their bones, building things with clay from a stream, stumbling upon a rusty hunk of metal from some vehicle. I’d climb on these ruins, peek inside, and wonder where it came from and why it was left there. The landscape held secrets.

My desire to explore is not limited to the physical landscape. Object-making is an exploration, too, fueled by a desire to create a charged object, full of potential. There is something elusive there and it defies understanding. This desire for discovery extends to experimentation with different media as well. Making and pigmenting my own paper, for instance, and then deciding to dip it in wax, led to the creation of a rock-like surface that I now use as support and material. Through these investigations, I hope to create work that is mystifying and impenetrable, like the spaces and places I reference.