Interview In
Liv Sothebey Magazine

LIV MAGAZINE: What is your background? Is your background reflected in your art?

AMADEA BAILEY: I had quite an unusual childhood and it had a huge impact on my becoming a painter and also on the kind of work that

I do. I was born in Germany, lived in Switzerland and moved to Kenya when I was five years old where I lived in a tiny village about 25 miles

outside of Nairobi. I grew up very close to the elements, the large African sky and the parched red earth. I rode horses in the bush. It was a

life where I experienced a sense of unbridled freedom and expansiveness. In my work as an artist my intention has always been to recreate

those feelings of largesse and abandonment. When I paint I go an adventure with each new painting. I never know where I am going to end

up. I don’t have a plan, but find the painting as I go along. There is always a sense of excitement and adventure and of disappearing into the

unknown as I start a new work.

LIV: Who are your most important artistic influences?

AB: I consider myself to be an abstract expressionist. I began painting after I saw an exhibition of Monet’s late water lily paintings at

the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. At the time I was an Art History major at Yale University. The show had a HUGE impact on

me. I loved the large expanses of color, the abstract shapes and the modern compositions. I went back to Yale and signed up for painting,

drawing and sculpture and have been painting ever since. At the New York Studio School I studied with George McNeil a wonderful figurative

expressionist. I also love the philosophy and spirit of the American Abstract Expressionists: Rothko, De Kooning, Pollack and Kline. Their work

is bold and strong and emotionally driven. That is what I relate to and aim to express in my own work.

LIV: What process, materials, techniques, etc., do you use to create your artwork? Is there a connection between your message and the way

you make your art?

AB: I am a mixed media artist and am driven by color, texture and light. I work mostly on a large scale. I love experimenting with new

materials and I often incorporate collage and fabric and mementos from my travels that have a specific meaning and significance to me. I

spend many months on a painting so the surface is built up with many layers, each one an encapsulation of a particular period of time. As

my work is emotionally driven my aim and desire is to express myself and my life in as authentic and real way as possible. That is what my

collectors respond to.

LIV: What does this artwork mean to you? How are those ideas expressed in this artwork?

AB: My concepts aren’t ideas necessarily, but emotions and feelings that I am trying to convey through my art. My goal is for others to be

able to convey the feeling or emotional state I was in while creating the art, and to feel the beauty and connection with me.

LIV: Do you have a favorite piece or a piece you are most proud of?

AB: I don’t have any favorite pieces, they are all unique in their own way, and I am proud of them all.

LIV: If there was one thing you would like made known about yourself, your work, your process or your cause, what would it be?

AB: I think the most important thing is to be true to oneself. Starting at 20 I had a dream to be living as a full time artist. It took many

years and many twists and turns to get to that place but I am proud to say that I am living that dream now. I would urge every creative being

NOT to give up. Yes it is hard and challenging and will demand everything you have. But the rewards far outweigh the rest… And the gift of

knowing you are doing what you were meant to do, contributing your unique talents and gifts is priceless.

LIV: What are your goals as an artist?

AB: To travel as much as I can and to live abroad a few months out of the year: in Italy, France or Spain. Traveling to other countries,

meeting new people, speaking different languages inspires me and feeds my art. When I travel my whole being opens up to new ways of

being and seeing and relating. This is enormously important to my creative enterprise.