Artist | Valerie Savarie | Resides | United States |
Website | valeriesavarie.com | Medium | Mixed Media |
Print Shop | valeriesavarie.com/shop | valerie@valeriesavarie.com | |
Representing Gallery | Haven Gallery Northport, NY. USA Stranger Factory Gallery Albuquerque, NM. USA White Bird Gallery Cannon Beach, OR. USA Cactus Gallery Los Angeles, CA. USA Valkarie Gallery Lakewood, CO. USA | Themes | Fairy tales Animals Mythology |
Follow the Artist | Instagram | Facebook | Press | valeriesavarie.com/press |
About the artist
Living in the artistic shadow of her older sister Valerie Savarie turned to creative writing in her teens to allow her own artistic voice to be heard from beyond her sibling’s veil. Deep inside, the visual artist waited patiently for a time when the shadow would grow faint. When her sister’s and her evolution into two independent beings would allow her to express freely. When that time came, words and visual art had formed an inseparable bond, and so her book sculptures came to be.
In selecting books, it is important 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, Valerie seeks out a book that will echo her mental vision. Taking the written story within, she reinterprets 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 bound into the book as it is important that her pieces retain their intrinsic book characteristics. 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 Valerie creates when making her book sculptures.
The characters she makes—the inhabitants of the books—are always painted in black and white, which allows 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 Valerie paint. “Eyes tell a story within their own orb and greatly impact the feeling of a piece and so completing them last, I solidify the overall emotion I want to express”.
As her book sculptures evolve, Valerie Savarie finds her work growing beyond short stories, moving towards epic series – generating from a moment in time, page by page, book by book.
Artwork Themes & Subject Matter
Valerie Savarie’s art starts out as a book so the subject matter can vary greatly. She tends to be drawn to books of poetry, fairy tales, fantasy and nature. Edgar Allan Poe is her favorite author to create from with Lewis Carroll coming in a close second.
Press
Valerie Savarie’s sculptures have been featured in notable magazine, books and interview including, Sketchy Behaviours: House of Vans, Jelly Bucket, Visions from the Upside Down: Stranger Things Artbook, My Neighbor Hayao – Art Book, and American Art Collector.
Upcoming Exhibitions
When | Exhibition | Gallery |
February 2024 | Solo exhibition: “Tales of Forgotten Familiars” | Haven Gallery Northport, NY. USA |
April 2024 | Solo exhibition: “Nine Lives” | Cactus Gallery Los Angeles, CA. USA |
August 2024 | Group exhibition: “Beyond Beautiful” | ArtBurst Online |
September 2024 | Group exhibition: “Ancestral Parade” | Valkarie Gallery Lakewood, CO. USA |
CV
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2023
Pastiche Umbral, Stranger Factory, Algodones, NM. United States
Open to Interpretation, Valkarie Gallery, Denver, CO. United States
2022
Modern Mythos, Valkarie Gallery, Denver, CO. United States
Mermaids, Monsters & Magic, Balefire, Arvada, CO. United States
2021
Warp Force, Balefire, Arvada, CO. United States
Once Upon A Time, Valkarie Gallery, Denver, CO. United States
2020
Adaptation, Valkarie Gallery, Denver, CO. United States
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023
Guardians of Feral Lands, Kuehl Fine Art, Trinidad, CO. United States
Little Big VIII, Haven Gallery, Northport, NY. United States
Winter Salon XIII, Stranger Factory, Algodones, NM. United States
Tiny Treasures XVIII, Cactus Gallery LA, Los Angeles, CA. United States
Stormy Weather, White Bird Gallery, Cannon Beach, OR. United States
Bewitching XIII, Stranger Factory, Algodones, NM. United States
The Art of Antiquity, Haven Gallery, Northport, NY. United States
Loteria IX, Cactus Gallery LA , Los Angeles, CA. United States
ANIME in LA, Spoke Art, Los Angeles, CA. United States
Grimm Group Show, Haven Gallery, Northport, NY. United States
La Lune II, Haven Gallery, Northport, NY. United States
Lucid Dreams, Cactus Gallery LA, Los Angeles, CA. United States
Trios, Cactus Gallery LA, Los Angeles, CA. United States
2022
Music Box V, Haven Gallery, Northport, NY. United States
Dreams of Wonderland, Stranger Factory, Algodones, NM. United States
Middle Garden, Cactus Gallery LA, Los Angeles, CA. United States
Tetralogy, Haven Gallery, Northport, NY. United States
Animal Spirits & Lonely Hearts, Stranger Factory, Algodones, NM. United States
Hans Christian Andersen, Haven Gallery, Northport, NY. United States
Loteria VIII, Cactus Gallery LA, Los Angeles, CA. United States
Bewitching XII, Stranger Factory, Algodones, NM. United States
Stormy Weather, White Bird Gallery, Cannon Beach, OR. United States
Winter Salon XII, Stranger Factory, Algodones, NM. United States
Little Big VII, Haven Gallery, Northport, NY. United States
2021
Friendship, Cactus Gallery LA, Los Angeles, CA. United States
Sappy Birthday, Cactus Gallery LA, Los Angeles, CA. United States
Lewis Carol Group Show, Haven Gallery, Northport, NY. United States
Exchanging Eyes, Stranger Factory, Algodones, NM. United States
Wilde: An Oscar Wilde Group Show, Haven Gallery, Northport, NY. United States
Of Land, Sea & Sky, Haven Gallery, Northport, NY. United States
Loteria VII, Cactus Gallery LA, Los Angeles, CA. United States
Bewitching XI, Stranger Factory, Algodones, NM. United States
All Them Witches, Cactus Gallery LA, Los Angeles, CA. United States
Stormy Weather, White Bird Gallery, Cannon Beach, OR. United States
Winter Salon XI, Stranger Factory, Algodones, NM. United States
Little Big VI, Haven Gallery, Northport, NY. United States
2020
Bird Brains, Cactus Gallery LA, Los Angeles, CA. United States
Miyazaki Invitational, Spoke Art, Hawaii, United States
Loteria VI, Cactus Gallery LA, Los Angeles, CA. United States
Stormy Weather, White Bird Gallery, Cannon Beach, OR. United States
Little Big V, Haven, Northport, NY. United States
Tiny Treasures XV, Cactus Gallery LA, Los Angeles, CA. United States
2019
Colorado Show, Mirus Gallery, Denver, CO. United States
Cats Online Show, Cactus Gallery LA, Los Angeles, CA. United States
LA Art Show, Sally Centigrade, Los Angeles, CA. United States
Loteria V, Cactus Gallery LA, Los Angeles, CA. United States
Winter Salon, White Bird Gallery, Cannon Beach, OR. United States
Tiny Treasures XIV, Cactus Gallery LA, Los Angeles, CA. United States
2018
Miyazaki Invitational, Spoke Art, Santa Monica, CA. United States
Super Mario Super Art Show Invitational, Bottleneck Gallery, New York City, NY. United States
The Revival, Cactus Gallery LA, Los Angeles, CA. United States
Epeolatry: A literary focused exhibit, Alexi Era Gallery, Eugene, OR. United States
Tiny Treasures XIII, Cactus Gallery LA, Los Angeles, CA. United States