The Wren: Nathalie Baba 2017

MURAL ON CHILDCARE CENTRE (2017)

My interpretation of the brief led me to create an artwork that was composed of bright colours and organic shapes, contrasting it with the angular architecture and distinct whiteness of the childcare centre’s walls. The art work was required to express the lively energy and nourishing ethos at the heart of the centre.

The nasturtiums were chosen not just for their bold beauty but also because they are an edible and familiar plant, often grown in home gardens. They encapsulated many elements important in the nurturing of children. The wren, of course, was chosen to represent the young child. This small little bird, at home in the undergrowth, hopping and darting low to the ground.

Creating a work, on site in a public space, gives rise to an engagement with the community that does not exist when I work alone in my studio. The development of the work is seen daily by parents dropping children, residents in the street, centre staff on breaks, those helping me with ladders, and passers by - and conversations had with all of them! This engagement becomes part of the process and, I believe, builds a sense of ownership within the community to the work itself.

Nathalie El Baba uses the word connection when describing what drives her practice. Her artworks are responsive, and influenced by her interaction with other people and their stories, as well as her own personal history of migration. Her subject matter is concerned with both movement, and identity of place, observed within the social, physical and emotional landscape.

Nathalie was born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1971. During the civil war her family moved to England. Based in Ireland since 1990, she has been living and working as an artist in Co. Clare for many years. She holds a B.A. in Art and Design, and a Certificate in Youth Arts from NUI Maynooth. As a facilitator her aim is to use visual art form as a language to cross barriers within community and public spaces.

Nathalie El Baba
Visual Artist and Facilitator
www.creativearts.ie
087 615 9466