Valentine Abraham
Tina Valentine A was born in Paris in 93 and transplanted to Tiohtia:ke (Montréal) at the age of 8. Art has always been at the center of her life, leading her to obtain a BFA in Painting and Drawing at Concordia University. Recently, she completed a massive interactive installation on the queer collective body thanks to a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts. She has worked as a mentor and art teacher for InPath and is committed to giving back the knowledge she has amassed through years of devoted practice.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
I paint from life because it is life and its invisible currents that interests me; what animates us, flowing beneath the surface. I translate these undulations of energies, myths and stories in oily saturated waves. Colors are the language of emotions, these strange powerful feelings that move us. The painted shape serves as a space to hold these intangible forces, colliding matter with magic. My focus on the naked body, not as object of desire but as vessel of memory, ancestral wisdom and resilience, is rooted in my own healing journey extended as an invitation for collective healing.
Tina Valentine A was born in Paris in 93 and transplanted to Tiohtia:ke (Montréal) at the age of 8. Art has always been at the center of her life, leading her to obtain a BFA in Painting and Drawing at Concordia University. Recently, she completed a massive interactive installation on the queer collective body thanks to a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts. She has worked as a mentor and art teacher for InPath and is committed to giving back the knowledge she has amassed through years of devoted practice.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
I paint from life because it is life and its invisible currents that interests me; what animates us, flowing beneath the surface. I translate these undulations of energies, myths and stories in oily saturated waves. Colors are the language of emotions, these strange powerful feelings that move us. The painted shape serves as a space to hold these intangible forces, colliding matter with magic. My focus on the naked body, not as object of desire but as vessel of memory, ancestral wisdom and resilience, is rooted in my own healing journey extended as an invitation for collective healing.
$13,000.00
Oil paint, oil sticks and color crayons on wood.
30x72"
I spent 6 months on this painting, as I was confronting some deep shadows within myself. To guide me through that process, I remembered the story of Skeleton Woman, which I had read in Women Who Run With The Wolves, Shortly after, I found a full size picture book of a skeleton in the street. And so, I spent my winter digging bone deep into pain, revealing the beauty at the core of trauma.
$4,000.00
Bleach and chalk on jeans.
36x72"
I made this painting during my first residency in Mexico, as I discovered a deep passion for flowers. I was also very interested in painting through the removal of colors and spent a long time playing with bleach, which led to this.
$1,200.00
Oil painting on stretched canvas.
24x24"
This painting was made in response to an essay by Olivia Rosenthal, where she explores the othering of desire in society through the lens of science fiction.
$8,000.00
Oil painting on stretched canvas.
48x72x3"
This painting is one of two sisters, exploring the dicotomy of traditional 'womanhood' and how the binary of gender is repeated in the binary of 'good' and 'bad' women. This is the 'bad' sister, diving into mythical archetypes that have been hated and feared - yet somehow desired - through the cultures that my ancestors came from.
$8,000.00
Oil painting on stretched canvas.
48x72x3"
This painting is one of two sisters, exploring the dicotomy of traditional 'womanhood' and how the binary of gender is repeated in the binary of 'good' and 'bad' women. This is the 'good' sister, diving into mythical archetypes that have been revered, glorified and loved through the cultures that my ancestors came from.
$2,700.00
Oil paint and gold leaf on stretched canvas.
36x48"
My family was torn apart by a traumatic decision made by my father. In the years following this destruction, as we were all trying to heal, my mother gave me the old pictures of my childhood - I spent many months with them and this painting was a way for me to make sense of the new storyline that was rewriting my understanding of what home had meant and could mean.
$1,800.00
Oil painting on stretched canvas.
30x40x3"
A friend sent me this picture of the inside of a snake's mouth as I was reading an essay about women as aliens - olivia rosenthal explores the strange interweaving of othering and desire that is present in science fiction and pornography. From such reflexions, this painting was born.