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Monica Valentine

Past viewing_room
Aug 06, 2020
  • MONICA VALENTINE

  • "I can tell by the feel. It feels good. Pink is warm. Yellow is warm, warm like a warm cool. Blue is cold, green is freezing."


  • Monica Valentine in "Creative Growth Art Center: San Francisco Bay Area,”2018
    From the Art in the Twenty-First Century series
    Courtesy Art21, art21.org, founded 1997

    Monica Valentine has attended Creative Growth since 2012. Monica is blind and wears prosthetic eyes, having lost her sight at birth. Color dominates and informs much of Monica’s life, and her ability to feel the color of an object by its temperature (a form of synesthesia) is just one way that she uses color to orient and empower herself in her environment. Monica dresses head to toe in monochrome every day, adorns herself with coordinated bike reflectors, and usually asks what someone’s favorite color is before learning their name.

    “When Monica refers to color, there’s something internal that she’s speaking about that isn’t just about the temperature. Temperature is a way of explaining the way she feels. If she’s wearing blue, she’ll sit around and ask what things are blue. What around me is the same as me, what is close to me, what am I connected to. That’s amazing to think about - how am I mirrored in my surroundings?”


    -Amy Keefer, Studio Instructor

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  • Sculptures

     

    Monica’s primary practice takes the form of optically charged sculptures composed of foam shapes that are densely covered with beads and sequins. Working with great dexterity, Monica threads sequins and seed beads onto thin pins, then uses her hands to feel along the foam in order to find their placement. The process is rhythmic and calculated. Monica’s exacting standards of bead size and color, foam shape and material, result in forms that are whole and perfect in their being. Visually rich and luminous, her sculptures are either monochromatic (red is her favorite color), or blooming with multiple hues as Monica creates layers by juxtaposing the colors of sequins and beads.

     

     

    • Monica Valentine MV 98, 2020 Mixed media sculpture 10x10x10 inches
      Monica Valentine
      MV 98, 2020
      Mixed media sculpture
      10x10x10 inches
    • Monica Valentine MV 103, 2020 Mixed media sculpture 12x6x7 inches
      Monica Valentine
      MV 103, 2020
      Mixed media sculpture
      12x6x7 inches
    • Monica Valentine MV 95, 2020 Mixed media sculpture 8x8x8 inches
      Monica Valentine
      MV 95, 2020
      Mixed media sculpture
      8x8x8 inches
    • Monica Valentine MV 101, 2020 Mixed media sculpture 8x8x8 inches
      Monica Valentine
      MV 101, 2020
      Mixed media sculpture
      8x8x8 inches
    • A foam "O" shape densely covered in red and gold sequins and red beads.
      Monica Valentine
      MV 93, 2020
      Mixed media sculpture
      10.5x10.5x2.5 inches
    • Monica Valentine MV 104, 2020 Mixed media sculpture 10x5.5x7 inches
      Monica Valentine
      MV 104, 2020
      Mixed media sculpture
      10x5.5x7 inches
    • A small foam sphere covered in gold and yellow sequins topped with bright yellow beads. A line of single blue beads cuts across the center.
      Monica Valentine
      MV 99, 2020
      Mixed media sculpture
      4.5x4.5x4.5 inches
    • Monica Valentine MV 96, 2020 Mixed media sculpture 10x10x10 inches
      Monica Valentine
      MV 96, 2020
      Mixed media sculpture
      10x10x10 inches
    • Monica Valentine MV 94, 2020 Mixed media sculpture 8x8x8 inches
      Monica Valentine
      MV 94, 2020
      Mixed media sculpture
      8x8x8 inches
    • A foam sphere covered in bright pink sequins and clear beads, with a broad band of gold sequins through the middle.
      Monica Valentine
      MV 100, 2020
      Mixed media sculpture
      4.5x4.5x4.5 inches
    • Monica Valentine MV 105, 2020 Mixed media sculpture 10x10x1.5 inches
      Monica Valentine
      MV 105, 2020
      Mixed media sculpture
      10x10x1.5 inches
    • A foam sphere covered in red sequins and beads, with a broad band of gold through the center.
      Monica Valentine
      MV 87, 2020
      Mixed media sculpture
      4x4x4 inches
    • Monica Valentine MV 97, 2020 Mixed media sculpture 10x10x10 inches
      Monica Valentine
      MV 97, 2020
      Mixed media sculpture
      10x10x10 inches
    • Monica Valentine MV 102, 2020 Mixed media sculpture 10x10x10 inches
      Monica Valentine
      MV 102, 2020
      Mixed media sculpture
      10x10x10 inches
    • Monica Valentine MV 85, 2019 Mixed media sculpture 4x4x3 inches
      Monica Valentine
      MV 85, 2019
      Mixed media sculpture
      4x4x3 inches
    • A set of three foam spheres all densely covered in sequins and beads. The sphere closest to the front is yellow, with some gold sequins. To its left is a light blue sphere with dark blue beads. Behind those is a purple sphere with white beads.
      Monica Valentine
      MV 89 (set of three), 2020
      Mixed media sculpture
      2.5x2.5x2.5 inches
    • A foam sphere covered in gold sequins and topped with white and pink beads.
      Monica Valentine
      MV 90, 2020
      Mixed media sculpture
      2.5x2.5x2.5 inches
    • A foam sphere covered in blue sequins and beads that are a shade darker.
      Monica Valentine
      MV 91, 2020
      Mixed media sculpture
      3x3x3inches
    Close
  • “When we first closed, I pulled together all of Monica's materials and her caregiver Yvonne picked everything up. I wasn't sure how long we would have to be closed for, so I included all the beads and sequins I could find that met her size requirements even if they weren't in her preferred palettes. With a scarcity of materials she has had to make new choices, such as using fuchsia instead of her preferred red. Working at home has also allowed her to be more contemplative about color and material, and she has embraced much of the adversity, which shows in her recent work."

     

    -Matt Dostal, Studio Director

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  • Textiles

    Monica’s determination and relationship with the tangible world is evidenced by her fast adaptation to weaving. Introduced by touch to a Saori loom by Studio Instructor Anne Meade Paden, Monica weaves monochromatic yarns until the piece outgrows the loom. Working exclusively in red, orange, green, or blue, her long textiles have a distinctive looped fringe on the left side that forms as she pulls the shuttle out to feel the yarn’s tension before starting the next row. Monica’s long singular weavings have been installed individually, or made into clothing: ponchos, dresses, and wraps, and are often adorned with bike reflectors. Monica has modeled some of them at Creative Growth’s annual Beyond Trend fashion show—they are red, of course, if she’s made them for herself.

    “Teaching Monica to weave was all by touch, so I let her feel everything and explained what it would do, there were not a lot of words involved really but a lot of motions with hands. I would use my hands on her feet to show her how to push on the pedals. She picked it up really fast as soon as she understood what the rhythm was.”

     

    -Anne Meade Paden, Textile Instructor

    Textiles
    • Monica Valentine MV 109, 2019-2020 Woven textile 148x19 inches
      Monica Valentine
      MV 109, 2019-2020
      Woven textile
      148x19 inches
    • Monica Valentine MV 106, 2019-2020 Woven textile 332x17 inches
      Monica Valentine
      MV 106, 2019-2020
      Woven textile
      332x17 inches
      $700.00
    • Monica Valentine MV 111, 2019-2020 Woven textile 92x20 inches
      Monica Valentine
      MV 111, 2019-2020
      Woven textile
      92x20 inches
    • Monica Valentine MV 108, 2019-2020 Woven textile 224x15 inches
      Monica Valentine
      MV 108, 2019-2020
      Woven textile
      224x15 inches
    • Monica Valentine MV 110, 2019-2020 Woven textile 126x18 inches
      Monica Valentine
      MV 110, 2019-2020
      Woven textile
      126x18 inches
    • Monica Valentine MV 107, 2019-2020 Woven textile 300x18 inches
      Monica Valentine
      MV 107, 2019-2020
      Woven textile
      300x18 inches
    Close
  • Monica Valentine

    Untitled (MV 112),2019
    Woven textile
    Fits size 2-6, fabric stretches
    $850
    Monica Valentine, Untitled, 2019
    $ 850.00
     
    A red woven dress on a mannequin form. The dress is wrapped around the form and has fringe hanging from the ends. A red bike reflector is styled as a necklace on the mannequin form.
  • Monica Valentine and Studio Instructor Amy Keefer at Beyond Trend 2018. Image by Feather Weight.

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  • Monica, who reads and writes in Braille, described her relationship with color and fashion in the form of a poem for The Creative Growth Magazine: Issue 2.

  • I like to dress in red. Dress in green, dress in blue, dress in yellow, dress in purple, dress in...

    I like to dress in red. Dress in green, dress in blue, dress in yellow, dress in purple, dress in white and black. Red is HOT. Yellow and orange feel warm. Green feels kinda freezing, blue feels cold. I can tell by the feel of them with my hands. I lost my sight, I had my eyes removed. First the left one and then the right one. I can feel the colors when I lay out my clothes.

     

  • Catherine Valentine in "Monica's Journey to Creative Growth" 2016. Film by Elena Mateus, Monica’s niece.

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    All artwork sales directly support each artist. If you would like to make a donation to Creative Growth, to ensure the longevity of our programs, please click here.


    Contact us at gallery@creativegrowth.org with any questions or inquries.

     

    Join our email list to receive exhibition, viewing room, and event announcements.

     


Creative Growth is a nonprofit organization that serves artists with disabilities by providing a professional studio environment for artistic development, gallery exhibition, and representation.

 

Founded in 1974, Creative Growth is the oldest art center and exhibition space for adults with disabilities in the United States. Currently, there are over 150 artists working in our studio in a variety of media including painting, drawing, textiles, woodwork, ceramics, rugs, printmaking, and video production. Artwork fostered in this unique environment has been acquired by prominent institutions worldwide, including the MoMA, The Centre Pompidou, SFMOMA, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, The American Folk Art museum, the Studio Museum of Harlem, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Collection de L’art Brut in Lausanne, Switzerland.

 

If the first university developed from a gathering of people exchanging ideas, then Creative Growth is a kind of university. Here for almost 50 years, artists with disabilities have gathered to communicate, express themselves, draw, paint, sculpt, and seek innovative ways towards creative self-realization and identity.                     

--Tom di Maria Director, Creative Growth Art Center

 

The work produced by Creative Growth’s artists represents everything I could hope for in art: it is simultaneously joyful, sincere, obsessive and puzzling, and forcefully reminds me of why I remain committed to the potential of art to illuminate our lives.                                               

--Matthew Higgs Director and Chief Curator, White Columns, New York

Creative Growth is a nonprofit organization that serves artists with disabilities by providing a professional studio environment for artistic development, gallery exhibition, and representation.

 

Founded in 1974, Creative Growth is the oldest art center and exhibition space for adults with disabilities in the United States. Currently, there are over 150 artists working in our studio in a variety of media including painting, drawing, textiles, woodwork, ceramics, rugs, printmaking, and video production. Artwork fostered in this unique environment has been acquired by prominent institutions worldwide, including the MoMA, The Centre Pompidou, SFMOMA, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, The American Folk Art museum, the Studio Museum of Harlem, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Collection de L’art Brut in Lausanne, Switzerland.

 


If the first university developed from a gathering of people exchanging ideas, then Creative Growth is a kind of university. Here for almost 40 years, artists with disabilities have gathered to communicate, express themselves, draw, paint, sculpt, and seek innovative ways towards creative self-realization and identity.                     

--Tom di Maria Director, Creative Growth Art Center

 

The work produced by Creative Growth’s artists represents everything I could hope for in art: it is simultaneously joyful, sincere, obsessive and puzzling, and forcefully reminds me of why I remain committed to the potential of art to illuminate our lives.                                               

 


Creative Growth Art Center | 355 24th st Oakland, CA | Contact gallery@creativegrowth.org with any questions

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