Artist Statement
In quantum mechanics, it’s said that when an object is looked at, it is changed. I think the reverse is also true. The sustained observation and rendering of people and things in this world stir in me a deep sense of affection for my subjects; at times I feel my eye and brush are really touching them. This feels special. This feels important. I am changed, because I look. I am changed, because I make.
At times I’m compelled to allow a wildness to enter the work, something untameable that speaks to me of the energies of nature that I cannot see, and cannot control. This is uncomfortable, and exhilarating. It feels like freedom.
Biography
Val moved to the Comox Valley from Vancouver in 2021 when she felt a pull to live closer to nature. She enjoys sharing her passion for drawing and painting through teaching from her private art studio in Courtenay. Val studied Media Arts at Emily Carr University, graduating with Honours in 1988. After making dance videos for twelve years, she switched to painting. She was a finalist in the Royal Bank Painting Competition in 2003, has received a number of artist grants, and has attended residencies at Vermont Studio Centre and St Georges’ School in Vancouver. Her paintings and drawings have been published in Carte Blanche Volume II: Painting (Magenta Foundation); International Painting Annual 3 (Manifest Drawing and Research Centre); Capilano University Press; and Subterrain Magazine, among others. Her work is included in the collections of the Canada Council Art Bank, Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Surrey Art Gallery, and Vancouver General Hospital, as well as in the homes of many enthusiastic private collectors.
