Paola Bay makes paintings, drawings and talismans built from a geometric vocabulary that arrives unbidden: interlocking triangles and diamond forms, spirals, sigils, and a script that is hers alone and belongs to no existing alphabet. The work is not derived from any tradition, though it holds long conversations with several — Sumerian and Babylonian seals, ziggurat geometry, the Flower of Life. Her talismans are made on natural stone in gold, an element forged in the collision of dying stars: matter that arrived here from elsewhere, marked with a language received the same way.

This vocabulary emerged over two decades of engagement with Indigenous communities in Tibet, Nepal, Mongolia, Bolivia, Brazil, Namibia, New Zealand and North America, and from philosophical and religious study — Buddhist, Hindu and Sufi traditions in particular — begun in her youth in Italy. Her longest bond is with the Mamos, spiritual leaders of the Arhuaco of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in northern Colombia, who gave her the title of Elder Grandmother. That relationship led to her work connecting Indigenous leaders internationally through Flourishing Diversity in London and the Earth Action Hub.

In 2018 she created Reliquaries for Broken Nature at the Triennale di Milano, presenting species alive today and the role each holds in the living world. It drew the compliments of President Sergio Mattarella and was singled out by the international press as one of the exhibition's most affecting works. Reliquaries holds open the moment when a daisy might become more treasured than a diamond.

Paola began in the early 1990s as an independent filmmaker in London, working alongside other European independents. In 2006 she founded the couture shoe brand Zoraide in Milan, rooted in traditional Italian handmade craftsmanship and carried by leading boutiques worldwide. In 2007 she co-edited the final issue of Permanent Food with Maurizio Cattelan, and has since been a contributing editor at T: The New York Times Style Magazine and a collaborator with Cabana.

She teaches Manifesting Creation & Creativity at the College of Psychic Studies, London.

Collections
Musée Galliera, Paris
College of Psychic Studies, London

Selected exhibitions
Portals, Nicoletta Fiorucci Foundation, London, 12 October – 15 December 2023
Broken Nature, XXII Triennale di Milano, 2019; Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2020–21