Amadea Bailey

Born in Germany / Works in Los Angeles, CA

BIO

Amadea Bailey was born in Germany and spent her formative years in a small village outside of Nairobi, Kenya. In Africa, she had access to the wide open plains of the Serengeti, went on safaris, and learned to ride horses in the bush. It was a life lived close to the raw earth, the big sky, and the natural world. Those early experiences of freedom and abandon had a deep impact on her and became instrumental in her desire to become an artist and later on in the kind of art she was drawn to create. She began painting in 1978 at the age of 20, after a visit to the Museum of Modern Art in NYC where she stood transfixed in front of Monet’s late water lily paintings. She left feeling exhilarated, enchanted, and inspired by the monumental, sweeping, and saturated canvases. A month later, she returned to university as a senior and signed up for painting, drawing, and sculpture. She has been painting ever since.

From the beginning, she was drawn to the energy and freedom of the Abstract Expressionist painters. Like them, her work is emotionally driven, gestural, spontaneous, and intuitive. As an artist, she has always had the desire to translate and share her experiences, memories, and feelings on the canvas. Her love of color and movement is also at the heart of everything she creates.

From the beginning I was drawn to the energy and freedom of the Abstract Expressionist painters. Like them, my work is emotionally driven, gestural, spontaneous and intuitive. As an artist I have always had the desire to translate and share my experiences, my memories and feelings on the canvas. My love of color and movement is also at the heart of everything I create. Painting is first a physical act, an intuitive, sensual and immediate response to the world around me. I paint as an explorer going on a sensory journey. I disappear into the unknown and dig for what will unravel and reveal itself: scraping, scratching, wiping, adding, subtracting, Inviting drips, stains, layering, and accidents. I paint on a large scale so I can feel my body moving across a big field. I engage with my paintings as in a dance, an improvisational call and response. I make a mark or a gesture and then I stand back and watch and listen. I let the painting guide my movements and my choices. Painting for me involves a process of exploration and discovery. I love the element of surprise as I play with and experiment with new materials and color combinations. I often build up the surface with many thin layers of paint, adding collage: paper, fabric, wood, and mementos from my travels. My aim is to create intrigue, nuance and drama.