by AGT EDITORS
April 23, 2020
Aliana Grace Bailey in Studio, 2020.
All images by Danielle Finney, unless otherwise noted.
Our Fall 2019 featured artist was Aliana Grace Bailey, a visual artist, designer, social good doer, and native of Washington, D.C. We sat down to talk about her life as an artist: everything from how she got started, to the role of color, empathy, and travel in her life; to what is currently inspiring her. Our conversation was online, and true to form, Aliana appeared in a room filled with bright light and a vivid color: warm oranges, yellows, and some green filled the room behind her as we greeted each other on screen. I began with disclaimers—I don’t speak the language of art and I have come to ask an artist for some translation. —JRS
(This interview was edited for content and clarity).
AGT: …I’ve learned that {visual art} it’s a language, just like everything else is a language. And it is not a language that I speak, and I don’t care about that. I know what moves me and I know what I like and that is well enough for me. And so when your art work was selected for our issue, I was like, “OH MY GOSH! This is amazing! I just want to talk to her! I don’t even know what I am going to say!”
AGB: <laughs> I appreciate that.
AGT: So that’s how this came to be. And I give you all of that preface to say that my questions are probably going to be pretty basic, but I’m okay with that too. And hopefully you are as well.
AGB: Of course.
AGT: My first question for you is how did you decide that visual art was the language that you wanted to speak, that you needed to use to speak your message to the world? What kinds of things went into making that decision?…Not a decision, I think I assume that people wake up like that, so what is your story of waking up like that?
AGB: I think, like a lot of artists, I will say I grew up making art. And I grew up in an environment– I’m in my childhood bedroom right now. My parents let me paint everything however I wanted to. So I was definitely in an environment where I was taught to embrace my creativity. I used to make all types of things when I was younger. I used to make pillows. I started sewing in elementary school. So I was always a very creative person, but in terms of taking it professionally, I would say that happened in high school. I was an athlete. I ran track for ten years and in 11th grade of high school, my instructor was teaching graphic design. I had never seen graphic design before; this was his first year teaching at the school. I went to Wilson in DC. And so Grover Massenburg was my instructor, and through that experience, I found my passion in graphic design. And I went “oh wow! I’m good at this.” And I had him as a teacher who was really motivational for me and really supportive, and so I think that kind of pushed me into pursuing art and design as a professional.
After that, I ended up going to North Carolina A&T to study design, and as I was doing design, I fell in love with painting. And at A&T, I was also a part of an environment that was super warm and comforting and just completely embraced art in all ways. And so that program was the type of program where you could experiment with lots of different things and so I just fell in love with it at A&T I would say. I fell in love with design in high school and that paved the way for me to fall deeper into love with art in college.
AGT: That’s awesome. Talk to me more about A&T. What made you decide to go there? What kinds of experiments did you do that pulled you deeper into this world?
AGB: A&T is my everything. I love talking about A&T. My dad was really involved with HBCUs growing up. During that time period he was working with HBCUS a lot. I didn’t know what school I wanted to go to honestly, I just didn’t know. But he had a lot of awareness around HBCUs and he actually took me to A&T for homecoming maybe during my senior year, or maybe junior year of high school. And I just fell in love with it, just because of the amount of love that everyone at that school had. It’s very community centered and the amount of pride that Aggies have is unlike any other school. So that’s what brought me there. Once I got there the visual arts program in particular changed my life, I would say. I actually double majored, I did social work as well. I was kind of like living this double life <laughs>. At A&T one of my biggest mentors Roymeico Carter was the director of the art program my second year in college. And he just totally shifted the culture of the program. And I was kinda in the middle of it in the sense of I was under his wing. I got to experience the program before he got there and I got to experience it while he was there and while he was creating those shifts. So he was a really big mentor for me.
And A&T is also the place where I learned my gifts. Because I’m an introvert and you know growing up as an introvert, you’re not really taught that you have the power to be a leader or that you have the power to be this influential person. Typically you have to use words to do that or be the most outspoken person in the room. I wasn’t that at all. My time at A&T really taught me that I had a quiet power about me and that I was able to inspire people and I was able to be a leader but in my own way. So that time period did a lot for me. It got me disciplined with my studio practice. I was the president of Art Circle. It taught me how to be a leader in my own way and how my unique gifts make me a powerful leader. So it shaped how I view art, and how I view design, and it really shaped the level of confidence that I have today. I could talk about A&T forever.
AGT: <laughs> I feel the same way about Howard. Best decision I ever made in my life. Every good thing I’ve ever had comes from my experience going to an HBCU. It’s really wonderful and powerful to hear somebody else say the same thing.
AGB: Yeah, even in grad school now, I’m at MICA and it’s this big art school and you see artists come out of MICA, and MICA is attached to them as an artist. MICA has been great and it has been a great experience, but when we talk about influence and what really shaped me, my HBCU is it. It’s all I will ever talk about.
AGT: Absolutely. Two things came up for me as you were speaking. Your website says that you are a “social good doer.” That’s one of your titles, and there’s some things in there about socially engaged art and you mentioned social work. So in my imagination, those things are stemming from the same place, but talk to me about how you married those two things. Why are they important to you and what that really looks like?
AGB: Growing up, I’ve always been passionate about art and also passionate about people. Again, I’m very introverted, but I’m also someone who identifies as an empath so I’ve always cared a lot about people’s feelings and just wanting things to be okay all the time with people and just in the world in general. And that’s how I grew up as a young child really caring about people’s feelings and the state of the world and peace on Earth and things like that. But growing up, when we’re talking about occupations, when we talked about helping people, the main thing that comes up is, “Go be a doctor!” So growing up, going to school, I thought that if you want to help people, you become a doctor. So I wanted to be a doctor for a long time because I thought that’s what you do when you want to help people. But when I got to A&T, I was doing a research paper on the power of art. And through that research paper, it was in a writing class, I started researching art therapy. I was like “Oh my gosh! This is a thing that combines all of the things that I’m passionate about.” And so for a while, I was interested in art therapy.
Now I’m not necessarily going that route, but at the time I became really interested in art therapy and I became really passionate about social work. I was like, “well maybe I can get a minor in social work.” So I tried to get a minor and they were like “you can’t minor in social work!” <chuckles> So I said, “Oh! Okay, well can I double major in social work?” So I ended up going through this whole process of getting approval to study social work and art, which was difficult. I had to prove, to convince a lot of people that it made sense to be in both programs.
AGT: What were some of the arguments you had to make? What were some of the points you made to make it make sense to people who didn’t see it?
AGB: I think now we are in this space where socially engaged everything is such a conversation, but at that time, it wasn’t a conversation. So people didn’t understand why you would combine social work with art. It was a combination of “you can’t do this rigorous social work program and be an artist. You can’t do both.” I was in school for five years. A lot of those years, I was taking 21 credit hours. It was difficult and along the way I had to–, I don’t know it was mainly just my passion. At the time, I didn’t know how it would work. I didn’t know how these things could combine. I knew that art therapy was a thing that existed, so I would use that as an argument. I also used the argument that this is my education and these are the two things I think I am passionate about, so I would like to do this.
I definitely had some moments where people were like “are you a social worker or are you an artist? You need to choose one.” People also always assumed that I was studying social work so that I had a back up plan for art. And that wasn’t the case at all.
AGT: And now you live a life where you don’t have to choose!
AGB: Right. So in terms of like the “social good doer” at the time, the slogan I used to have was “ Artist. Designer. Aspiring Social Good Doer.” That’s what it was for a long time because I was still trying to figure out how I was gonna make all this work. And now I still use social good doer, because I am someone with a background in social work but I don’t practice social work in a traditional sense. So I want to make sure to honor all parts of me: the art, the design, and the socially engaged element. I have a passion for individuals and healing and wellness. I wanted to make sure I could lift that up in a few short words along with art and design.
And, you know, throughout the past few years, it’s kind of shifted. When I was in undergrad, I was trying to force the social work and the art thing and trying to create space for both of them and really forcing it.
And that turned into me having an internship–well, I had two internships. I had a social work internship and I had an art-based internship. And I was always trying to balance both by doing two different things at all times. And now I’m really in a place where I have found spaces and I’ve found community that creates that merge for me.
I would say my biggest, well, one place was I did an art therapy internship. And that was helpful. I would say that my work with The Sanctuaries is what really brought it all together. I came across them and I was like oh wow they combine spirituality, all forms of art, social engagement, and justice. And I was like this is all of the things that are important to me combined. This is what I’ve been dreaming of–just being able to find a place where I didn’t have to force it anymore. So ever since then, I’ve been engaged with that and a part of projects that mold all three together.
It shows up in different ways in my life now. Like right now, I’m getting my MFA in Community Arts. I was Artist-in-Residence for Roberta’s House in Baltimore and that’s a grief support center for families. And so that’s another passion I’ve developed. So I am in a place where things have aligned for me to be doing socially engaged practices and art.
AGT: Can you talk some more about some of the projects you’ve done through The Sanctuaries. I saw one, it was the banners that went up in the church {Foundry United Methodist Church, Washington, DC}. Can you talk about that or some other projects you’ve done with them that really spoke your mission?
AGB: That project I actually finished right before grad school started. It was a seven-month long process? The big part about socially engaged art is that it is all about the process. The outcomes, the deliverables were these four banners, but it was about “What are these four banners going to represent? How are we going to create them together? How are we going to make them inclusive? What conversations are we going to have to come up with the designs for the banners? How can we make the process enriching in a way that everyone in the church will feel the power of the banners?”
So it actually started off with me and Ben Lasso who was also a part of The Sanctuaries. We were doing Art for Activists and Organizing workshops. So it started with that. We did a workshop with their core group of people who were going to be part of the art team. So we taught them the different ways that art is impacting social change through a workshop. From there, those people created a survey and went out to members of the congregation and had conversations. So it was all about people talking to one another and getting insights so that everyone is a part of the process. And as far as the banner painting, everyone contributed. So the community of people did most of the painting for those banners, over the course of about six different painting sessions they showed up, helped, and contributed.
Something magical happens when people come together to create art together. It becomes very collaborative, people get out of their comfort zones. People who are afraid to paint start painting and doing amazing things. So it is also this moment when people are really empowered through the artistic process. This is also what I’m teaching, the socially engaged art is very much about helping people own their own power whether that means through their art or something else. A lot of people became more confident throughout the process. It was also a unique opportunity to teach the congregation members and people who were visiting the church for the first time. So that when you feel these banners you get a sense of what the church is about. These are also banners that predominantly have people of color shown, which is monumental. So part of this project was also about change, doing something about how racist the imagery can be in churches. So what does it mean to be able to walk into a church and see people who actually look like you in the artwork that surrounds you? And that church in particular has strong roots in activism so that was important to them.
So I think that in terms of impact it was a really successful project.
AGT: I have a question for you about process. For me, thinking about my writing. It’s really hard for me to see the distance between the final picture and where I am. It’s one of the things I am struggling with, and struggling with less and less every day as I just accept that part of the process is time. But I think when people see a finished work, they don’t see the process. Talk to me about how process shows up for you? Did you have that challenge and if so, how did you, and how do you mitigate that? Were you born patient, and you just trust the process? Or was there some process to getting okay with the process, when you see your vision but have a blank canvas in front of you for instance?
AGB: My process is very intuitive. I am a very patient person, I don’t like rushing things. And so, my art is typically a mixture between very intuitive, jumping in, and feeling things as they go. Or it can be stemmed from a place where there is a direct inspiration that I am drawing from and the artwork comes from that experience. Typically, I love process, I love taking my time. A lot of my work is based off emotion. I try my best to stay true to that. Even in grad school now, I don’t make art if it doesn’t feel right to me–I just don’t. It’s not something that I do. And, as an artist, sometimes it’s difficult when you are that intuitive person, because you have deadlines.
One thing I forgot to mention about when I was at A&T: art gave me first-hand experience with art as it relates to therapy. During my senior exposition, my grandmother passed away. That entire body of work ended up being inspired by my grandmother. A lot of what I typically do, if I am going through something, I merge that with the art that I’m creating. And just through that process of making that body of work inspired by my grandmother, and also it was a part of the healing process for me, I’ve learned that with art, especially as an artist, the more I create the art, the more art teaches you how to talk about your art, it helps you process things. Through that process, I was able to go through the grieving experience in a healthy way. And, you know, I was crying as I was making these paintings. A lot of the paintings are on the website (AGT), attached to some of the works. That process taught me how to talk about the loss of a loved one. At one point you have to write an artist statement about your work, and so here I am having to write a paper about my grandmother. I was like, “This is ridiculous!” But it helped me process things, it helped me talk about it, it helped me grieve through that and really use art as a way to honor her and also heal myself. And now I can talk about that body of work. I’ve talked about it a thousand times at this point. When you go through that process, art teaches you how to express things that are deepest on your heart and how to communicate it to people. The more you talk about something, the easier it gets.
Did I answer your question?
6 ft x 2 ft Acrylic on Canvas, 2013
AGT: Thank you for sharing that. I have a question that’s kind of moot because you talk about doing social good. But there’s this age-old question about the purpose of art. I will blanketly ask you, what is the purpose of art for you as the artist, and what is the purpose of art for the person receiving the art. What is the purpose of that relationship in your cosmology?
AGB: I hope I say this the right way. I have it written down in so many places. I think when we are talking about the purpose of art. Everyone has a different purpose for why they are creating. It is not uncommon that that purpose will change over time. I have realized that my purpose for creating is to explore myself and explore my own emotions and that’s my outlet. That’s the way I best express myself. Through my art, I try to, it’s the place that I have to be vulnerable. What I’ve learned through that process when I’m putting work out that is vulnerable, or I’m showing gratitude for people I love, once I put that out, it inspires the viewers to do the same thing. I am now at a place where I am totally embracing that power and being more intentional about it. So my overall purpose for my art is to be an example of loving yourself for other people. And being an example of embracing vulnerability, embracing intimacy, and embracing just being your full complete self. I think that’s my biggest message. I just want people to get a sense of healing through my work, whether that be through the colors, through the words, through the materials. I just want people to feel comforted. And even if I am discussing topics that are difficult through my work, I still want to provide people with that sense of comfort as they are reflecting on these things or while I am honoring these things. I want to feel like I am creating something that is both uplifting and teaches you something.
AGT: And so how does that purpose dictate, or does it dictate, where you choose to share your work, or how you choose to share your work? Is there like an ideal person you want to run into this and therefore you decide based on that where you are going to share it or how you’re going to share it?
AGB: I haven’t really thought about that too much. Sometimes I have created art for a specific event or environment. Actually, the turning point, the ah-ha moment for me in terms of my purpose in art happened at this event called “The Black Goddess Tribute.” There were fashion designers and visual artists, and we were asked to create art inspired by a Black Goddess. That may be like Diana Ross, or Solange, Beyonce. And, I had a really hard time creating art about anybody that was famous. I had a hard time connecting to that. So what I ended up doing was a tribute to all the Black Goddesses in my life. So it was a work of art where I was speaking messages to my friends, and to my grandmother, my sister, my mom, my aunt. That was a really vulnerable process for me. And I was like, “Let me get out all of these messages of love that I want my loved ones to feel.” So it started off really personal, and it was really stressful to do the install. Once it was up, and I was exhausted and I was sleep-deprived, once I witnessed people interacting with the art. It was the most beautiful, transformative theory for me. I saw best friends reading a statement and hugging afterward. I saw people break down crying. I saw people sending messages to their loved ones. I saw people going through this amazing transformative process experiencing my art. Meanwhile, I’m like sleep-deprived and stressed, but people got something really powerful out of it. I was like “okay, this is what I’m supposed to be doing.” That was my “ah-ha” moment. This is what my gift is, to share that joy. My work is very much about joy. To share that joy and to show that healing, and give people those spaces to be vulnerable and share that love with others.
AGT: So how long ago was that?
AGB: That was maybe 2017.
AGT: So how has that propelled you forward?
AGB: It’s definitely in the artist statement now. I think it just allows me to be more intentional. With a lot of my work, I was doing it, but I didn’t realize I was doing it. I have that one piece that says “I love you. I value you. I will fight for you.” That’s something I was saying to a very intentional group of people, but the way that I word it makes it so that anyone can feel touched by it and they can apply it to their lives. Now I’m in a place where I’m being more mindful about the impact my work has on people and how can I comfort them through that process. I’ve been asking myself how I can create healing environments for people. A lot of my work is very much now about creating those healing spaces and creating environments.
And so I think the way of propelling my work forward is asking myself a lot of questions, talking to people, and just thinking about how I can add tools to my toolbelt to support people. So whether that be my next degree being in counseling. Like how will I combine counseling skills with the art that I’m making? So that I can properly be there for people who have emotional responses to my art. So that’s the biggest thing for me, I’m just asking myself a lot of questions and figuring out ways I can inspire people and motivate them to do positive things. And get to know themselves better. I think that’s a really big thing for me too. Because art is very much me getting to know myself, I just want people to have introspective moments when they are experiencing my work.
AGT: That makes sense. That’s exciting!
AGT: The rest of these are my fun questions, I hope. I often ask people, what are feeding your imagination? What are you taking in?
AGB: Hmmm. That’s a good question.
AGT: It can be intentionally or unintentionally.
AGB: As an introvert, I like to be home a lot. I think just being in my own space and taking in the colors and how I’ve curated my own space is a lot of what I take in on a daily basis. It’s the plants that are surrounding me, the books that are surrounding me, it’s the incense, the candles, the colors. That’s the biggest thing I take in every day. I’m also very intentional about having those private moments, those slow down moments with myself. That’s the biggest thing. Silence, stillness. Taking in the things that I love that I’ve surrounded my space with. I also love reading. Nature, I like being in nature. And I’m really inspired by just observing people and observing spaces. Just having that time to just look quietly out my window and having a moment to take in life. It kind of goes back to Instagram again. One reason I love Instagram stories is because I’m able to post other people’s images on my stories. So I’m also taking in a lot of inspiration: textures, and colors, and beautiful Black faces and bodies. So that’s really inspiring.
AGT: Talk to me about color. It is what made me scream when I saw your art. It is a very colorful Instagram page. Everything, everything, everything, with your name on it is colorful. Even this room you’re sitting in is so colorful! Has it always been this way? Are there certain colors, certain textures? Related to what I said in the beginning, I’ve been in places and the curator walking us through the museum is like if you see this color in this person’s art it means this, and if you see this color, it means that. Do you have a personal symbology or is it more organic than that? Talk to me about all of it.
AGB: It’s definitely more organic. I kind of see the colors I use as just the colors of my Spirit. Those are my spirit colors. My colors have definitely evolved over time. I definitely have a color palette that I can’t seem to get away from, but it has been evolving a lot. In a way that feels much more beautiful for me. When I was in undergrad, I used to use a lot of bright colors with a black and gold, I had black and gold in almost everything, because I liked the contrast. And I think over time, I’ve just been narrowing down my color palette. Right now I’m really into fuchsias and yellows. It’s really interesting to see how my color palette has morphed and yet it all feels still the same. Color is really important to me. I’ve tried to venture off into other color palettes, but it just doesn’t feel right to me. I guess color is really important to me because of the energy that it carries. I think my color scheme also speaks to creating art that is healing for both me and my viewers. Especially when it comes to talking about things that may be difficult topics. My color scheme and textures and materials that I use provide a safe space for us to engage in that type of conversation.
Color is really important to me, really vibrant colors.
AGT: They’re very tropical.
AGB: Yeah, and it’s actually difficult because I’m really particular about my colors too. Even as I’m doing surface pattern design, I’m trying to figure out what types of fabrics do well with my colors. I need my colors vibrant. I’m just very particular about how my colors come off when it comes to print in any way. So yeah color is really super special to me. When you walk into my studio, it’s like an explosion of color. That’s usually what people notice first. I think it’s kind of formed a sense of branding for me because of the consistency of the color palette.
AGT: That’s awesome. Talk to me about what you’re reading.
AGB: Right now, I’m reading The Seven Levels of Intimacy (Matthew Kelly). I’m reading that to support my thesis that I’m working on. I’ll be exploring intimacy, building relationships, and healing. Those are my major themes, so this is the book I’m reading. I’m also reading a little bit of Black Female Sexualities (eds. Trimiko Melancon, Joanne M. Braxton). I try to only read one book at a time.
AGT: Who does that? <laughs>
AGB: <laughs> I try to! It helps if I can just knock one book out and feel really good about knocking that book out. But because I’m working on a thesis, I’m trying to read books that are relevant to my thesis so I can use them as supporting research.
AGT: Are there artists that really inspire you, that are your pillars of the craft. Like for me, I have a specific set of writers who are my pillars of perfection, my lighthouses, as far as how I want to sound, and what I want to do. Do you have artists, in any medium, who do that for you?
AGB: I have a couple artists that I really connect to on that level. One isn’t a visual artist. I really love Janet Jackson.
AGT: Yes! Because why not? <laughs>
AGB: <laughs> What’s great about Janet, there’s not many people I feel really connected to and see myself in, and Janet is really one of those people. I really love her sense of empowerment, and she has that sense of social good element to what she does. She has sensuality, she has vulnerability. I really just enjoy her as an artist. I really love her. There’s so many artists that I love for different reasons. Ana Mendieta, Lorna Simpson, Yinka Shonibare. One that’s been pretty special in terms of storytelling impact is Faith Ringgold. Around that time period I was creating art inspired by my grandmother, we had this Faith Ringgold print in our living room and my grandmother was living with us for a while. And my grandmother would always be talking about this painting, “Oh the people look like they’re having so much fun!” She did these storytelling quilts. I would listen to my grandmother say this every single day, but I wouldn’t pay close attention to the actual artwork. It wasn’t until after my grandmother passed that I looked more deeply at the artwork and I was like “Oh my God, this is a Faith Ringgold piece.” That time period is when I started including fibers and textiles into my work. So that’s a little part of where my mixed media elements come from and I started to experiment with creating forms in ways that are authentic to me. So Faith Ringgold is special to me.
AGT: That takes me to my last question. What is really pushing or pulling your evolution as an artist right now? I know you’re in the middle of finishing your MFA and that’s taking up a great deal of space, but what are the underlying currents that are really pushing you to grow right now.
AGB: I feel like I’m in a really magical place right now. I’ve experienced this magical place one time before. The past year or so, since I started grad school when I moved to Baltimore, my level of life experience and growth and personal development has been stronger than ever. I’ve gone through a lot of growing pains in the past year and a half. I feel like I’m in a place where I’m stronger than I’ve ever been and I’m more aware of myself than I’ve ever been. Just those growing pains. Grad school plus personal things that are happening along with grad school. I’ve always been someone, I’ve been very in tune with myself since a very young age. I knew who I was, I knew what I wanted to do, I was very aware of my passions. During grad school, I got to this place where I had to re-teach myself who I was and what I was doing. I had to reintroduce myself to myself every day. That was new for me. And through that experience, I feel like I’m in a whole different space with myself and my art where I’m ready to fully propel forward. I think I’m in a beautiful place with my art, my thesis is going to be the place I’ve been wanting to go for a long time. So I’m just really pushing through and doing things that expand beyond the boundaries that I’ve had before. I’m just doing so on an unapologetic level, much higher than I have in the past. So that’s how I feel as an artist and as an individual. I feel very confident. I’ve gone through so many yucky things and now it’s like “I’m a butterfly!” I feel like this new period of life for me is what’s pulling and pushing. Just being in a new phase of life.
AGT: Thank you. This has been wonderful Aliana; it’s been very wonderful to talk to you. And it’s been so great to feature your art in our issue and bring some color to that space. I love it so much, and I’m grateful for your work.
AGB: Thank you! I’m grateful too.