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Glacial Retreat

3/6/2021 9:41:39 AM

Things are visibly changing in the north.
I'm fortunate to be able to hike & backpack to view glaciers. It's never a small event. Even if the planning, preparing, and actual logistics of getting there go well, there's always hurdles along the trek. Seeing a landscape changed, a river rerouted, or a glacier receding has a very powerful and emotional impact.
A few years ago I was lucky to go on a chartered boat down Atlin Lake to begin a backpacking adventure with a group of lovely introverts. Due to changes in water levels and the land we weren't able to get to our planned trailhead and took an alternate route through a hilly forest. It turned out to be a beautiful short hike to a base camp site where we set up, close to a foot of the Llewellyn Glacier.
We hiked the area for a couple days and explored the glacier. It was one of the quietest and most peaceful treks I've ever been on. But I was greatly impacted by the visible changes in the land, ice and water. This sculptural painting resulted from my reference photos and portrays the struggle between inspiring beauty and the reality of climate change. The fortress in the glacial mountain speaks to the play between comfort in nature, and the fear that can take hold. For example: when surprising a bear on the trail, or worse - heard outside one's tent in the night.
Perhaps that is why backpacking is so addicting: the range of extreme emotions and endorphin floods that usually occur. If not for the magnificence of finding untouched nature.
This sculptural clay painting shows the view we saw when hiking up to the foot of glacier. Each thread of ice was hand-rolled and secured one at a time. The mountain fortress speaks to the solace and personal security felt in the backcountry, after years of practicing. The doors comes from my reference photographs from Scotland and touches on my heritage. The glacial retreat portrays the effects of climate change and the melting ice in the north, as well as retreating to lovely magical places in the backcountry.
For more information on this painting, please contact me:

Greetings

2/23/2021 9:10:13 AM

 

Hi, I'm Dee. I'm a visual artist living in Yukon, Canada. I'm grateful to be living on the traditional land of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation and Ta’an Kwäch’än Council.
 
In my studio I consume a lot of music while I create intricate and detailed art. I enjoy developing techniques for sculptural painting while I get lost in the rhythms and stories of music. My primary goals are to help people reconnect with nature and to spark interest in helping our planet. I love to explore the outdoors and find most of my inspiration there. I'm still trying to figure out how I can have a stronger voice for conservation. For the past few years I've been focusing on what I can personally do and on changing my own habits. I'm fortunate to be able to walk to many of the places I go. For a year I tried to take most of the recyclable plastic from our household to my studio to use. I now have a small plastic monster waiting to lunge out of a storage closet. I'm slowing finding ways to reuse the plastic, slowly.

This year, I owe much gratitude to Arts Fund, Government of Yukon and Lotteries Yukon for an advanced artist award to further explore sculptural painting techniques. I've been working on this project by testing out other media with my style of modelling clay painting.
I'm also super grateful for the unwavering support from my partner.
 
Thank you to musicians and artists who keep on, especially through these tough times. You inspire me.
 Hope you're all hanging in there and getting outside for walks,
Dee (she/her)
 
If you'd like to connect further please contact me or follow my Instagram account @DBailey.Art
 

 

Solo Exhibition opens July 3/20!

6/29/2020 10:48:45 AM

A solo exhibition of new artwork by Dee Bailey. 'Portals' visits gateways to natural spaces through themes of safety, security, respect, and the love of natural places. Sculptural clay paintings framed in shadow boxes invite viewers to ponder culture and heritage of the north, engage with the Yukon wilderness, and dream of security in whimsical scenes. The highly detailed paintings invite people for a closer look and contemplation. Viewers can reminisce with their own memories of nature, enjoy enchanted places to stay safe, and engage with respect for others and this land.

Due to the current situation there is no opening reception for this exhibition. I'd like to invite viewers to book private tours instead. I will be leaving a book at the show for people to express their thoughts and feelings, so that we can have conversations about how the past few months have been and how the art makes people feel. I'm also inviting people to ask questions and start conversations through email and social media. I'm working with Arts Underground to hold a virtual video tour of the exhibition after the opening.

 

It's so exciting to finally be able to release this body of work to the public eye. The ideas for this show began during a art residency in Iceland in late 2018. I officially began work for the show in the Fall of 2019. The show was postponed and rescheduled a couple of times. I look forward to releasing the art from its isolation!

 

Ma'ah, Spirit Bear

10/18/2019 10:45:35 AM

This sculptural painting of Ma'ah the white kermode bear has been added to the 2019 Pacific Wild  12x12" Art Auction to raise funds for conservation efforts in the great Bear Rainforest. https://pacificwild.org/make-a-difference/artists-for-the-great-bear-rainforest/

 

The clay painting was created using my photographs taken during the 2017 Canada C3 voyage. Marvin Robinson guided us in to a stream in the Great Bear Rainforest where kermode bears were feeding on salmon. We were very fortunate to spend the day with Ma'ah, the grandmother spirit bear, and others. We learned a lot about the bears, salmon, the forest life cycle and protecting the habitat from Marvin - we're all very grateful for the experience. Now its my turn to give back.

 

50% of the proceeds from this painting will go to the Great Bear Education & Research Project.

 

Oil-based clay on gesso board. Each piece of fur has been hand rolled and placed one at a time. This bear is framed in a deep shadow box.

 

@ DBailey.Art on Instagram