Institute of Art Design + Technology
Dún Laoghaire

Millie Baker 

 
BA [Hons] Art

Millie Baker is based in the Wicklow mountains. She uses techniques including printmaking, painting, and drawing. She is inspired by Ireland’s landscapes and coastlines. Millie’s work emerges from this engagement with the natural world, expressing the character of place as well as the feelings created from engaging in these landscapes. An important part of her practice is the physical process of going out into the environment and creating directly from the source itself, taking note of how the weather and seasons dictate the way in which the print or painting will develop. She has exhibited in New Translations (IMMA,2019) and Propositions (IADT campus, 2022)

Project Overview

My work explores how we engage with the Irish landscape and how our relationship with it has changed over time. My process involves going out into the Wicklow mountains and fully immersing myself in this environment. As part of my research, I read old maps of the area as well as books on local plants, and I also talk to farmers who own and work the land, to learn about the natural history and geography of the places that I am exploring. I also closely investigate the native plants and animals that form part of the landscape. Colour plays a very important role in my work. On my journeys, I gather flowers, plants and other botanical materials to create natural dyes that I use in my paintings and I also make prints with the plants. Through these practices of gathering and making, I create a process-based body of work that reflects my relationship to my environment.