Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jessica Valderrama. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Jessica, appreciate you joining us today. Do you wish you had started sooner?

I always liked drawing, painting, and doing creative projects in school. I started art lessons in the third grade and as I got older, I knew I wanted to study art and be an artist. So I studied painting and drawing in college, worked in local galleries for a few years after that but never really knew how to make a regular practice for myself, how to value my practice or really investigate my work. I thought I could just do it on the side here and there, sell a few pieces at the gallery but nothing really stuck. During this time I traveled a lot, always taking photos with intentions of making paintings. I then decided to pursue a dream to live and work abroad and ended up in Asia for over 6 years. For most of my 20s and into my 30s, I gave my attention to other experiences but in the back of my mind always felt guilty that I had “abandoned” my dream of being an artist.

Then I had my daughter. It might be cliché to say, but carrying and growing a being, birthing it and then caring for it, seeing yourself in that being, raw, human, and triggering, is probably one of the most profound experiences in this world. I saw her and thought, “What am I showing her? What am I teaching her? How can I teach her to value herself, take chances on herself, if I don’t do that myself?” She was worth any risk. I was worth the risk. I started drawing and painting again at first during her nap time and then for longer time periods when she was in daycare. I sought out networks supporting female identifying and mother/caretaker artists and found people with similar stories, struggles, and desires. I learned that guilt didn’t serve me and that I had never abandoned my dream, only enriched it. I could say I wasted those years. I could say I should’ve started sooner but I know now that those experiences made me and made my art practice.

Jessica, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a representational artist that uses drawing and painting in various mediums to carefully observe and intimately render the environments and figures around me. Second generation New York born, Florida gown, Asia expat returned, I enjoy exploring the nuance in the changes and idiosyncrasies of place. I like to present to the viewer a familiar embrace or a novel perspective. I use various mediums such as watercolor, acrylic, and oil when I paint. I’ve also gotten back to a past love of drawing with graphite as it lends a more direct intention and sensitivity to my work. I make anything from landscapes, figurative work and even some abstract expressionism (thanks to the quarantine!).

Is there a mission driving your creative journey?

There’s nothing like getting a message or, even better, an in-person comment about how your work stirred something inside, brought up a memory, or evoked an emotion in a person. This is why I create. This is my mission as an artist. The more I live my life, gain experience and listen to others, the more I realize that this life and my work is about creating and fostering connection. As Brene Brown writes in her introduction to “Atlas of the Heart,”

“So often, when we feel lost, adrift in our lives our first instinct is to look out into the distance to find the nearest shore. But that shore, that solid ground, is within us. The anchor we are searching for is connection, and it is internal.”

She goes on to explain that in order to connect meaningfully with others, we must first connect with ourselves. And that is why I paint and draw what I do. I am visually exploring, understanding my biography, my story, so that I can connect with others and their stories. My mission in this creative journey is to also create and hold a safe space for others so they can share their story and know that it’s worthy of taking up space. With that comment about my work, I usually get a part of their story. They often tell me what my images remind them of. That is an honor for me. I take what they share, hold it, and let it fuel my creativity.

Have you ever had to pivot?

As many people did during the pandemic, I had to pivot in order to adjust and move forward with the new norms. I learned a lot about my art practice and what it means to have it and keep it constant. I basically had to invent a new visual language during that time and let go of internalized ideas of what an artist is or isn’t. The end of that winter, I had entered my daughter into a preschool program. I had high expectations. I thought I was going to get more time to focus on my work but that dream was squelched. After 3 weeks, the school closed and we were back at home together. I was sad and disappointed but determined. I was also running on adrenaline from doom scrolling the news, unable to focus and make the representational, detailed work I used to. So I started making work with my daughter, tracing our hands, sometimes her small feet, using super bright colors, mixing mediums, cutting and pasting. She would only work on one piece of paper for a brief time, but I would layer into each piece, making marks and outlining and coloring over and over as a sort of meditation. I never wanted to make work about being a mother or work that involved my child but what could I do? And then I questioned why I have that prejudice in the first place? The art I made during that time is incredibly raw and ephemeral. That body of work can never be made again or replicated, but it will speak to my art practice and my artwork forever. It’s a kind of portrait of our relationship at the time.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jessicavalderrama.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessicavalderrama.art
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jessicavalderrama.art