Dr Jess Bailey
I am an art historian, writer, and university teacher in the humanities. I am passionate about the role histories of art and visual culture play in educating and agitating for social change. A third generation quilter, I also make sturdy comfort for loved ones while sharing the legacies of patchwork. I enjoy collaborating with mutual aid groups, universities, artists, community groups, museums, charities, and arts publications on projects about visual and material history.
I am an associate lecturer of art history at University College London and recently finished a PhD at UC Berkeley. You can read more about my research work and writing on my personal website where you can also find the contact information for my literary agent.
My pronouns are she, her, & hers. I am currently based in London, UK.
about my quilting practice
I grew up under a quilt that was hand pieced and hand quilted by my great aunt from family clothes and discarded home textiles. I am inspired by traditional practices of making that produce intimate and deeply useful art.
Each of my quilts is unique and quilted by hand in reflection of my family traditions. My quilts are often made in conversation with their recipients’ cultural heritage and personal histories, sometimes including a piece of fabric from a family’s past.
Quilts are an alternative, nonverbal way to mark history and lineage. Quiet items of intergenerational care, they are evidence of past love making the present possible.
I am the author of Many Hands Make a Quilt: short histories of radical quilting, Common Threads Press (2021) funded by the Costume & Textile Association's Geoffrey Squire Memorial Bursary. I am also a recipient of the Ardis James Scholarship (2022-2023) for quilt research.
My work has been featured in the Sunday Times Style Magazine, Bustle, Tatter Journal, Document Journal, Salvage Magazine, and Bloom Magazine.
land acknowledgement
I was born on unceded land of the Muwekma Ohlone peoples and my life carries with it the contours and privileges of having been raised in their homeland. My family has historically occupied the land of the Seminole peoples, the Salish and Kootenai and the Niitsítpii-stahkoii (Black feet Nation) among others. More information about indigenous sovereignty can be found through Native-land.ca.
In the UK, land resources, reparations for the violence of British colonialism, and anti-racist work are also connected. Resources I am learning from in my new home include: The Black Curriculum and Land in Our Names.
In this era of vital anti-racism, I save links to some of the resources and organisations I am learning from and donating to in my linktree. Please join me in affirming that Black Lives Matter.
