BIOGRAPHY
Valerie creates richly textured works in both the visual and performing arts. Since a young age both artistic expressions have informed one another with her story-telling visuals and her theatrically staged moving compositions. Her painting career began in Montreal while working with sculptor Stanley Lewis who invited her to be part of a group show at C.S.A.M. with Artists Against Aids. Her involvement in a press conference with Lewis and Jean-Paul Riopelle, propelled her to her first solo show Phosphorescent Seeds, in honour of the women who lost their lives in the massacre at the University of Montreal. Her painting style over the years has changed from bold coloured acrylics to highly charged minimalistic works to thick chiseled textures, marking her reflective phase of self-portraits. Following a house fire where she lost most of her paintings, she worked through the ashes with a new series of Monkey Portraits. Inspired by time spent with the human-like white-faced capuchins, their comedy and wisdom resulted in 32 paintings. Enamored by the peace and beauty in the BC forests she went on to create her series of trees with light through cat moss, which continues today.
As a community-engaged artist she has worked on mural projects, tile mosaics, banners, and the Gift of Art Project to which she collaborated with artists Sheila Cano and Anna Talbot, community school coordinator Dale Owen and community members of all ages. Paintings of peace were created on over 1000 canvas bags filled with art supplies for children in Afghanistan orphanages. An advocate for promoting youth voices and raising awareness to issues facing youth, she created the Roundhouse Youth Theatre Action Group (RHYTAG) project in 2002. The project grew into the development of Some Assembly Arts Society to which she is co-founder, executive and artistic director, and director of 25 new plays created in collaboration with youth and artists from all over the Lower Mainland. The project received the City of Vancouver Youth Award for outstanding contribution to the youth community. Valerie is a director of several productions including Warhol Images at the Vancouver Art Gallery, Opera Breve’s Hors D’oeuvre, writer/director of Treated with Tango, EXPOSE, Marbles and Take a Breath, a collaboration with community members of all ages. Valerie was nominated for Canada’s Siminovitch theatre directing award, the Mayor’s Arts Award and is the recipient of several grants and awards. Her plays, paintings and installations have been shown provincially, nationally and internationally. Valerie achieved a BFA in painting and drawing from Concordia and an MFA in theatre directing from UBC.
EXHIBITIONS
2008 Maple Ridge Art Centre “All Creatures Big and Small”, Monkey Portraits:
‘Troy Playing’, ‘Troy’, ‘The Brothers’ (Group)
2005 Radha Yoga Centre “The Divine in Feminine”, Monkey Portraits:
‘Lucinda’, ‘Swaness’, ‘Murdoch’, Vancouver (Group)
2004 Shadbolt Centre for the Arts Gala, “Through the Ashes”, Burnaby (Group)
2004 Chutney Villa, “Monkey Portraits”, Vancouver (Solo)
2004 Blackberry Gallery, “Monkey Portraits”, Port Moody Arts Centre (Solo)
2003 North Vancouver Arts Council-District Hall, “ Monkey Portraits” (Solo)
2001 Cavern Space, “Dressed up in Space”, installation piece, Vancouver
1996 Dorothy Somerset Studio, “A War in Heaven”, (Shepard/Chaikin),
installation piece with paintings, Vancouver
1993 Player’s Theatre Gallery, “Phosphorescent Seeds”, Montreal (Solo)
1991 Kristo Gallery, “Welcome Home”, installation with paintings, Montreal (Group)
1990 VAV Gallery, “Self Portrait”, Montreal (Group)
1990 ARTISTS AGAINST AIDS, “Freedom of the Dance”, “The rising and declining in all natural moods”, Montreal (Group)
COLLECTIONS
2004 Privately owned, “Madeline”, Vancouver
2004 Privately owned, “Mardox”, North Vancouver
2004 Privately owned, “Adrian”, North Vancouver
2004 Privately owned, “CJ”, Vancouver
2004 Privately owned, “Morpheus”, North Vancouver
2004 Privately owned, “Grandma”, Burnaby
2004 Privately owned, “Mindy”, Port Moody
1999 Privately owned, “Pixie”, North Vancouver
1997 Privately owned, “Just like you”, Vancouver
1993 Privately owned, “Salmon”, Vancouver
1993 Privately owned, “Portrait”, Montreal
1992 Privately owned, “Flowers”, Montreal
1991 CSAM, “The rising and declining in all natural moods”, Montreal
1990 ARTISTS AGAINST AIDS, “Freedom of the Dance”, Montreal