Enchanted Land and Sea

Installation Information

In selecting books, it is important to Valerie that they be published before 1972 (or, is at least as old as her). Sometimes the book instantly creates a visual concept and other times, she seeks out a book to echo a mental vision. Taking the written story within, she reinterprets the story it into a three- dimensional piece by cutting, sewing and painting (all done by hand without the use of power tools), thus creating a multidimensional collage while still leaving the majority of the book intact. Every page is kept as bound as it is important that the intrinsic characteristics of the book are retained. Each page that is visible is purposely selected to be seen – whether it be specific words, lack of words, images or a combination thereof. Words are as important as the visuals when creating the book sculptures. The characters—the inhabitants of the books—are always painted in black and white, which allow them to live in balance within their predominantly black and white (text and page) surroundings. Sometimes they are animals; sometimes they are more human. Regardless of their species, the eyes typically lend themselves to a more humanistic expression and are the last thing to be painted. As the book sculptures evolve, Valerie’s work grows beyond short stories, moving towards epic series - generating from a moment in time, page by page, book by book.