Valepainthings
Artistic
Statement
My artistic work arises from real life — from what I feel, observe, and experience every day. At its core, my practice explores human emotions and vulnerability: states that are often difficult to share, express, or fully acknowledge. I paint as a way to heal from suffering, to escape intrusive thoughts, and to explore inner turmoil, making the unconscious more conscious. Painting becomes a means of confronting my demons, understanding them, and rendering them less overwhelming. As Carl Jung wrote, “One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.”
By revealing significant moments from my life, I do not simply expose personal feelings, but also a continuous search for meaning. Through brushstrokes, colors, and forms, I transform intimate lived experiences into images, giving shape to inner struggles and to the contradictions that exist within us all. My approach, honest and clear, invites the viewer to feel, reflect, and recognize themselves in the sensations and questions I share.
My work moves between everyday reality and surrealism. Some pieces adopt a more realistic style, allowing me to explore the beauty of daily life, the complexity of the human body, and the dynamics of space and perspective. Other works embrace a more abstract and dreamlike approach, where reality shifts, distorts, and dissolves, leaving room for imagination. These paintings may appear intentionally fragmented or deconstructed, where conventional beauty gives way to an aesthetic of discomfort or unease. Symbolism plays a central role in my work, serving as a powerful tool to reveal deep, intimate, and often unspoken truths.
I use bright, vibrant colors and primarily work with acrylic on cotton or linen canvas, a medium that allows for an immediate and instinctive relationship with material, color, and light. The textures and layers of paint often echo different stages of life, moments of fragility, and the ongoing process of understanding and reconstruction.
My intention is to celebrate the beauty and the power of vulnerability, transforming wounds and lived experiences into something poetic, alive, and precious. I encourage the public to embrace all the difficult emotions we face and honor them, because they are part of us — part of our beauty and value — and they shape us as human beings.
Valentina Dragotta

