People: Hayley Millar Baker
Name: Hayley Millar Baker
Occupation / Business / Creative Outlet: Artist
Location: Boonwurrung Country
What was the first thing you did this morning? I checked Motaz Azaiza, Bisan Owda, and Wael Al Dahdouh’s Instagram stories. As I have every morning for the last 130 days.
What does 'well-being' mean to you? At this moment I’m not sure what sensible well-being looks like or means. I feel our ‘well-beings’ have been shaken up, turned inside out, and thrown out the window through the mass exposure of barefaced colonial violence we are witnessing in real-time. In saying that though, in an attempt to protect my well-being at this time, I habitually hug my kids, look at and read about art, and get massages to push stressful and anxious toxins out of my body.
Currently reading? ‘One Hundred Days’ by Alice Pung.
Currently browsing (.com)? Artist’s websites for the upcoming Art Monthly Australasia issue I am guest editing.
A resource / piece of writing you'd like to share with us? ‘If I Must Die’, a poem by Refaat Alareer.
An album/mix that calms your nervous system? Screaming it out to The Offsprings ‘Gone Away’, ‘You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid’, and ‘The Kids Aren’t Alright’.
An album/mix that hypes you up? I grew up on my parents records so anything 60’s and 70’s rock gets me going.
Three items in your wallet / bag? Pluk handcream in Le Coco, Kai by Gaye Straza perfume oil, and La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Levres baume.
Most commonly used apps on your phone? Instagram and Duolingo.
Products found in your shower / by your bath? Dr Natasha Cook Concentrated Cleanser and Cosmedix Purity Detox Scrub.
Three things that can always be found in your kitchen cupboard? Red lentils, crushed tomatoes, and an assortment of pastas.
Favourite kitchen utensil? I preference no utensil, but my most used would be a wooden spoon.
Favourite travel destination? Italy. In my wildest dreams I plan to move there permanently one day.
Favourite form of movement / exercise? Stretching.
Nighttime rituals & practices? I put my two children to bed and stay up later then I probably should for some alone time. I believe it’s called ‘revenge bedtime procrastination.’
One thing you'd like to incorporate into your day / week that you're currently yet to? I would love to play a game of chess each night before bed with my husband.
A secret? When I was a child, I was so petrified of E.T that I would pray (to no one) that the movie ending would somehow change, and he would stay dead so I wouldn’t have to worry of his potential existence.
Someone you look up to? In this moment I am creatively motivated by Dan Boyd and D Harding. I value their expansive practices, their sophistication in output, and the way they speak about their work.
Something you're proud of? My unwavering morals and ethics.
I feel most creatively fulfilled when… I finish a project and step back to see it in its entirety. The exhale moment.
I'm currently working on… writing the screenplay of my third filmic work and creating a new series of photographic work, something cathartic, slow, pensive.
This time last year, I wish I knew… the revolution is coming.
I'm grateful for… my life.
Connect with Hayley