Art - Maria Bailey

Speaking to Maria Bailey on the phone after I have been to see her work at Pelham House, I ask her whether she would describe herself as an artist or a designer. It is a question that she is not surprised to hear - her company markets her large block light boxes inlaid with plants, for interiors. “Well I call myself an artist-designer, but the artist bit always comes first”, she says. “My work does cross over between the commercial and the artistic but it’s not mass-produced, and each piece is individually made to be unique”. There’s also a concept behind it, and the influences of several indisputably ‘fine’ artists. “My main influences are Mark Rothko, Andy Goldsworthy and Olafur Eliasson, (who produced the ‘Weather Project’ in the Tate Modern Turbine Hall). I was really inspired by the way that the public responded to that work - they started lying down and behaving as if they were on a beach - all because of the way that light had been used”. Maria wanted to produce something with the same sort of ethereal, otherworldly effect. “My pieces are sort of a contemporary take on the traditional canvas but they are also inspired by the idea of looking through a misty window and that feeling of contemplation that it gives you”. LEDs placed inside the box provide a changing source of light that can be adjusted by the viewer. “I like the idea that the audience can participate in the construction of the artwork and ultimately decide what colour it will be depending on their mood or the surroundings”. No doubt it’ll upset some artistic purists, though. ER