Valentina Peroza

Artist Statement

I moved to Minnesota from Venezuela at two years old and grew up as a very outgoing kid but I struggled to make friends because I was different, I was an immigrant. So I fell in love with being on my own with my doodles and fun crafts, just making things with my own two hands. I have always had a love for art ever since I was a kid, as it’s been the only thing that I found that I resonated with. In school it was my favorite class, I have always communicated through my art. I was able to express myself and my feelings with my art in ways I couldn’t put into words before.
I mainly do ceramics, drawing, and painting as my area of expertise, but I also make music and jewelry. I always like to try new forms of art because I never know what I’m gonna fall in love with. I would like to consider myself more of a painter because that is what I specialize with the most. I grew up to be who I am because of art. My art is very free, I would describe it as soft, whimsical, flowing with energy. The tools I use for my artistic expression are paint brushes, acrylic paints and my own two hands, of course! I grow with each art piece I make, I use this as inspiration. I think art making in general really represents the idea of growth but with technique I use color and direction to emulate the emotion of growth and change in my work. I like bending the rules of certain techniques and specific art styles because I just want to feel and enjoy what I’m making.
The colorful pieces I make are of various shapes and sizes. I’ll either work on small canvases, or the biggest one I can find; no surface is too big or too small. The gears in my head just turn every time I’m gonna start something and I just go for it. I try to express my feelings through my work, whether they’re good or bad. Landscape paintings, self-portraits, and surrealist works are what I like to paint the most.
In short, I have been able to put my feelings into my art whether it be a painting or a sculpture, and it has been the way I communicate how I feel for my whole life.