Artificialis

Artificialis

contemporary art / history of art

Valeria Vaccaro

Born in 1988 in Turin, Italy, Valeria Vaccaro went to the Fine Arts High School in her hometown. Then, she studied sculpture at the Accademia di Belle Arti also in Turin. Early, in 2005 she presented her works to the public. Since this time, she participated in many group shows and art fairs, primarily in Italy. With the itinerant Biennale Jeune Création Européenne (JCE) from 2013 to 2015, her creations travelled throughout Europe, with shows in France, the Netherlands, Germany, Lithuania, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Spain and Portugal. She won a special mention from the city of Turin for the occasion of the 2017 Art Prize CBM. In 2022, she was granted with the second place of the VAF Foundation Award in Kiel, Germany.

Valeria explores in her hyper-realistic oeuvre fire and combustion, even though she only depicts the impact and does not work directly with the often destructive element. For her, fire is rather a purifying matter of inspiration, which transforms material. Interesting from this point of view is that her feedstock is a relatively fire resistant one: Carrara marble.

The artist transforms the white stone into seemingly other materials. Often she features items of everyday use, such as candles (our Artwork of the Month / December 2022), matches, transport boxes, furniture or as in our Artwork of the Month / November 2019 EUR-pallets. By processing the marble and painting it afterwards, emerge objects that portray the models perfectly. Common to these natural reproductions is that they carry traces of combustion, but the flame remains invisible. Herewith, she freezes a single instant between ideal condition and disintegration, to deliver it to eternity. A special appeal in these sculptures lies in the contrast of the simulated materiality and the real one.

Valeria lives and works in Turin.

www.valeriavaccaro.com

Artwork of the Month / December 2022

Artwork of the month / November 2019