“UNIA” by Radcliffe Bailey

22 x 30 inches, Aquatint, etching, photograph, chine colle, and velvet, AP 2, 2003 — framed

Radcliffe Bailey is a painter, sculptor, and mixed media artist who utilizes the layering of imagery, culturally resonant materials, and text to explore themes of ancestry, race, and memory. Bailey believes that by translating his personal experiences, he can achieve an understanding of, and a healing from, a universal history. His work is often made from found materials and certain pieces from his past, including traditional African sculpture, tintypes of his family members, piano keys, and Georgia red clay.

In a 2013 interview with Lilly Lampe in BOMBlog, Bailey describes his creative process, the day by day experience of art, even though my work may seem to have this layer of history, it is also a cover for what Im dealing with on a day to day. Its very much about today. We were talking about where I go next: Im still thinking about today and yesterday and whats coming in front of me tomorrow. Its my attitude to my studio practice.

Bailey was born in Bridgeton, New Jersey in 1968, and grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, where he currently lives and works today. Bailey received a BFA in 1991 from The Atlanta College of Art.