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Artists Statement
My concentration has been a continuous exploration of several recurring design themes and the evolution of those themes. I approach each work as a design problem with a solution. Variations excite and inspire me to advance the designs to the next level. Each work becomes part of that evolving series.
I am both a painter and collagist. My collage paintings are design puzzles, with no preconceived plan. The work evolves layer-by-layer, piece-by-piece, all while trying to incorporate a strong overall design element and balance.
They are combinations of cut painted paper, acrylic, ink, and oils on masonite and on canvas. I enjoy the challenge of cutting the paper into pieces, painting them, working on the composition and finally gluing it all down.
When involved in the art of creating a piece, “I am like an actor in the moment, so in character that at times I don’t know how I created the piece, or if I can ever again repeat the performance in exactly the same way.”
When I am painting in oils the process is different and so is the subject matter, but I also use the layering process, building color on color. I use a glazing medium, a technique that was used by the old masters- 1 part damar varnish, 1 part turpentine and 1 part linseed oil that I mix with each pigment. I have also added oil sticks, ochre pigments and charcoal to this 3-part formula.
My Inspiration.....
comes from subjects as varied as the cultures of the fertility goddess, ancient cave paintings, masks, aborigines, and the American Indian.
Artists that have inspired me are Matisse, Kandinsky, Gauguin, Modigliani, and my college art professors, Ugo Giannini, David Kwo and Sr. Gerardine Mueller,OP. I am energized by great color combinations, and stimulated by the colors of nature, especially those found in the American desert."
Life Shield Series:
© Doreen E. Valenza- The Life Shield Series
Artists Statement
In 2007, using glossy black paper, I created a large black and white collage The paper was difficult to work with, so I decided to paint designs directly on the paper.
I surrounded some of the images with dots and added red snakes. I named this piece Colorforms. Research led me to the Aboriginal Indians, who believed that figures surrounded by dots may be associated with vision seekers in a trance state. I then added Vision Seekers to the title. I continued working in this direction until a coincidence occurred....
In 2008,my husband and I were on vacation visiting Silver City, New Mexico,home of the ancient Mimbres Indians. We visited the WNMU Museum which houses the largest permanent display of Mimbres Pottery in the world. The Mimbres Indians, an ancient tribe, are the creators of pottery decorated with black and white “modern” designs. They buried their dead (sitting, under their dwellings) with the pots resting on their heads. In the center of these pot or plates, they made a hole. Archeologists named them “kill holes” and think maybe The Mimbres wanted the souls of the dead to escape through them into the next dimension or universe.
Shortly after returning from vacation, I discovered an old article I had torn out of Archeology Magazine circa 1978 on The Mimbres. I had been saving this for 30 years. Perhaps the “spirits” were guiding me to next series of works : The Life Shield Series.
The Life Shield Series are part of my invented universe, they are both tangible and a virtual reality. The shapes were inspired by pictographic images made by many different indigenous peoples but I have taken symbolic shapes and meanings, and transformed them into my own language.
At first, the designs may appear chaotic, but they are not. They are intense meditations, meant to calm the soul.They are receptacles for positive energy. The designs are contained within a circle, a mandala, a protective shield, an armor for life’s journey.
The image of the snake appears previously in my collages and paintings. I was influenced by Joseph Campbells’ Power of the Myth. He states that the Snake is a positive thing, it is the 2nd best thing next to the Buddha, it sheds its skin, a sign of re-birth. In many cultures the snake is worshiped as a god and has the Power of Life to throw off death. It is an empowering symbol.
My use of the snakes symbol enables me to add direction and line in the design to balance and weight the composition, some extending outside the circle to spread positive energy.
I agree with Kandinsky, one of my favorite artists, who “stressed that the circle was not just the synthesis of great formal opposition, but also the shape most closely connected to the cosmos and universal meaning.”
According to Robert Brault, “Among those born into chaos, some will imagine an order and become scientists; a few will recognize the chaos and become abstract artists; most others will turn to faith for understanding; and the rest will become lost souls”. Once being a lost soul, I found order in chaos. My Life Shields are connected to the cosmos and have universal meaning. They are spiritual and communicate a life force energy and balance.
"I do believe in an afterlife,and feel spirit guidance. My Ancestors are whispering in my ear and giving me positive energy and vibrations.”
THE STAR TULIPS SERIES
A stylized flower that I named a “Star Tulip” originally appeared in my early oil paintings of figures called Galax Gemini that were inspired by the massive sculptures on Easter Island. The Gemini hold the “Star Tulips” in their hand, wear them as earrings, and their feet have “landed” on Star Tulip branches.
This shape recurs throughout my work. It continues to slowly evolve and to metamorphose. I have used this shape in complex collages,abstracted them into graphic designs, created orb designs on a molecular level in my series- Molecular Virus, and Computer Virus Invasions, they are growing in the desert, are subterranean, below the earth and sea but are originally from outer space.
Sometimes they are just really pretty! I really enjoy creating works using this shape. They celebrate life, fertility and regeneration.
The Vision Seekers Series
In some cultures skulls are venerated and revered on altars, others, like the Mexicans fashion colorful beings for the Day of the Dead. Under Rome, the nameless are piled one upon the other in underground catacombs, while here in the USA, are part of Halloween displays intending to frighten. This representative symbol of death has many different meanings and power over humans. Eventually all of us are on the same journey. The Latin saying Memento Mori - be mindful of dying- a reminder of death or mortality, can be reminder of human failures or errors or what is left when the soul leaves the body. I have surrounded the skulls with dots- and believe like the Aboriginal Indians that figures surrounded by dots maybe associated with vision seekers in a trance state- trying to contact the ancestors. There is also the image of the Snake- it has appeared previously in my collages and paintings. The inclusion in these new series, Vision Seekers the Ancestors, was inspired by Joseph Campbell in Power of the Myth: • The Snake is a positive thing • The Snake is the 2nd best thing next to the Buddha • It sheds its skin – re -birth • Many cultures the snake is worshiped as a god • Power of Life to throw off death.
"I do believe in an afterlife and at times, feel spirit guidance when my Ancestors are whispering in my ear."
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