Against the Wall: Making Art and Murals in 2020
A conversation with Bailee Hiatt

Curated by Dev McCauley

In the face of the unsettling tumult of 2020, Bailee Hiatt and a number of other Seattle-based artists turned to murals as a way to respond to the world around them while simultaneously imagining new realities. The dread that Hiatt felt when businesses boarded up at the onset of the pandemic was followed by a feeling of possibility, "looking at these plywood boards in a different way, they really just turned into a canvas.”

In her conversation with guest curator, Dev McCauley, Hiatt talks about how her artistic practice and outlook have shifted during the public health crisis and the ongoing national movements for racial justice.

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Bailee Hiatt

Raised in Santa Rosa, CA, and currently working in Seattle, WA, Bailee Hiatt is a visual artist specializing in ink paintings on paper. Bailee explores her own sense of physical and emotional presence through vibrations, movement, and visual resonance. The human form is one of her greatest inspirations, as the vessel which drives our actions and the shell which hides our innermost selves. Her Instagram, @baileehiatt, features ink paintings, and mural work. 

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Dev McCauley

Dev McCauley is a Seattle-based graphic designer, visual artist, curator, and a recent graduate from Seattle University. Essential to her design practice is a process-based approach that centers on conceptual development and favors simple, elegant solutions. McCauley's work is bold and expressive, and often shows her interest in typography. She is strongly influenced by D.I.Y. methods and philosophies and seeks to create earnest and accessible design work. McCauley's artistic practice outside of design includes video, performance, installation, and sculpture.