Artist Statement

Val trained in the early 90’s in London at Central St Martins School of Art. She went on to travel for 2 years visiting and living in many parts of Asia, Australasia, Middle East and Europe, and these experiences still informs her painting today. Val now lives in Barlow, Derbyshire.
Val’s paintings engage with the insubstantial, transient nature of existence as expressed through colour and form, the elements, open spaces and the play of light. Because not everything we experience is visible, Val presents the viewer with abstract forms that evokes something that cannot be put into words. Just as a musician calls to our emotions through sound, Val’s paintings present us with a portal that questions our pre-conceptions and invites us to contemplate what arises. The colours and forms may evoke memory, imagination and something unseen, unknown to us until this moment.
Val layers oil and wax on canvas then scrape-back to create pieces that are contemplative, meditative and mysterious. They are textural, intimate, paradoxical and poetic and they engage with the potential of emptiness and silence.
Val says “I just turn up to the studio and start painting, with the approach of not trying to make something happen, but then…. something happens. That’s the joy of having painted for 30 years, one can relax into the practice. The paintings that arise are often a surprise to me. I usually start with a piece of music, a poem, a person's biography or memory of being in a landscape. This context is the starting point from which the painting can emerge in its own way.

You can see Val's work at
London Contemporary Art Gallery, Bloomsbury, London.
Gallerytop, Rowsley, Derbyshire.
Tarpey Gallery, Castle Donnington, Leicestershire.
Hope Gallery, Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire