{"id":94943,"date":"2020-11-04T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-04T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/?post_type=bu-article&#038;p=94943"},"modified":"2022-11-02T09:14:18","modified_gmt":"2022-11-02T13:14:18","slug":"objects-of-her-affection","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/magazine\/articles\/2020\/objects-of-her-affection\/","title":{"rendered":"Objects of Her Affection"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin magazine-block-editorial-leadin is-style-side-by-side has-media has-wider has-flip has-box has-media-focus-center-middle has-quaternary-theme\">\n\t\t<div class=\"container-lockup\">\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-leadin-media\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"2130\" height=\"2560\" src=\"\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Cover_Image2-scaled.jpg\" class=\"\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Cover_Image2-scaled.jpg 2130w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Cover_Image2-529x636.jpg 529w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Cover_Image2-852x1024.jpg 852w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Cover_Image2-768x923.jpg 768w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Cover_Image2-1278x1536.jpg 1278w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Cover_Image2-1704x2048.jpg 1704w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Cover_Image2-832x1000.jpg 832w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2130px) 100vw, 2130px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-inner\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"wp-prepress-tag\">CFA Alumni<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"head\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tObjects of Her Affection\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"deck\">Anna Valdez layers personal stories into lush, plant-filled paintings<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar magazine-prepress-layout-metabar\">\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-date\">November 4, 2020<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-credits\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul data-credit-type=\"By\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/magazine\/authors\/andrew-thurston\/\">Andrew Thurston<\/a><\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-share js-bu-prepress-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-action\"><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-introparagraph magazine-block-editorial-introparagraph is-style-dropcap-dimensional has-dropcap has-dropcap-color-quaternary\"><div class=\"wp-block-editorial-introparagraph-content\"><p>Artist Anna Valdez\u2019s&nbsp;California studio is full of plants. Vines tumble from shelves stacked with art books, and succulent green leaves frame oversized canvases. Her childhood home bloomed with flora, too: her dad grew up on a farm and worked in a nursery.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPlants remind me of home and they just bring life to a space,\u201d says&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.annavaldez.com\/\">Valdez (\u201913)<\/a>. \u201cAnd they provide form in my paintings. They grow into the space and create lines. They really help me in navigating my compositions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Plants are everywhere in Valdez\u2019s recent creations: in 2019\u2019s&nbsp;<em>Self-Portrait in Studio<\/em>, the artist\u2019s face is hidden by fiddle-leaf figs; 2018\u2019s&nbsp;<em>Landscape in Studio<\/em>&nbsp;is a painting&nbsp;<em>of a painting<\/em>&nbsp;of palms, snake plants, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-photoessay magazine-block-editorial-photoessay alignwide wp-block-photoessay js-block-editorial-photoessay\"><div class=\"photo-row-full-f\">\n<div class=\"photo-f\"><div class=\"wp-block-photoessay-media\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Portrait_Image4-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-94953\" srcset=\"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Portrait_Image4-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Portrait_Image4-636x477.jpg 636w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Portrait_Image4-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Portrait_Image4-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Portrait_Image4-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Portrait_Image4-1333x1000.jpg 1333w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Portrait_Image4-1600x1200.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption><p class=\"wp-block-photoessay-media-caption wp-prepress-component-caption\">Anna Valdez (\u201913) has filled her California studio with plants. \u201cPlants remind me of home and they just bring life to a space,\u201d she says.<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Valdez\u2019s work\u2014primarily oil on canvas, but also monotypes, ceramics, and wallpaper\u2014has been shown at galleries and museums across the United States and Canada. In 2018, Facebook&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.annavaldez.com\/facebook\">commissioned her to paint a mural<\/a>&nbsp;in one of its Menlo Park, Calif., buildings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In its review of her 2019 New York exhibition&nbsp;<em>Natural Curiosity<\/em>, art and culture magazine&nbsp;<em>Juxtapoz<\/em>&nbsp;complimented Valdez\u2019s \u201csignature palette of rich reds, bright yellows and sumptuous surfaces,\u201d calling the show \u201cvisual poetry at work, at once rooted in art-historical practices while also remaining faithful to the present moment.\u201d&nbsp;<em>Vice<\/em>&nbsp;has said her \u201chouseplant paintings have seriously chill vibes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Valdez has painted sparse deserts, rocky bays, even old beer cans, but for the past couple of years, her botanical studio has been the star of her work. It\u2019s not just crowded with plants. The space is filled with canvases and painting supplies, books, fabric wall hangings (her mom is a quilter), sculptures, pottery, shells, an upturned milk crate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-photoessay magazine-block-editorial-photoessay alignwide wp-block-photoessay js-block-editorial-photoessay\"><div class=\"photo-row-thirds-1-1-1\">\n<div class=\"photo-1\"><div class=\"wp-block-photoessay-media\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Self-Portrait-in-Studio-2019-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-94945\" srcset=\"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Self-Portrait-in-Studio-2019-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Self-Portrait-in-Studio-2019-636x636.jpg 636w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Self-Portrait-in-Studio-2019-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Self-Portrait-in-Studio-2019-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Self-Portrait-in-Studio-2019-1000x1000.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Self-Portrait-in-Studio-2019-500x500.jpg 500w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Self-Portrait-in-Studio-2019-1200x1200.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Self-Portrait-in-Studio-2019-550x550.jpg 550w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Self-Portrait-in-Studio-2019-710x710.jpg 710w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Self-Portrait-in-Studio-2019-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Self-Portrait-in-Studio-2019-600x600.jpg 600w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Self-Portrait-in-Studio-2019.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption><p class=\"wp-block-photoessay-media-caption wp-prepress-component-caption\"><em>Self-Portrait in Studio<\/em>\u00a0(2019) Oil and acrylic on canvas 72 x 72 in. In this piece, Valdez has obscured her face behind a fiddle-leaf fig plant.<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"photo-1\"><div class=\"wp-block-photoessay-media\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Studio-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-94948\" srcset=\"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Studio-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Studio-636x424.jpg 636w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Studio-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Studio-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Studio-2048x1367.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Studio-1498x1000.jpg 1498w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Studio-900x600.jpg 900w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Studio-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Studio-600x400.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption><p class=\"wp-block-photoessay-media-caption wp-prepress-component-caption\">These items in Valdez\u2019s studio make appearances in paintings such as\u00a0<em>Objects of Affection<\/em>\u00a0(right).<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"photo-1\"><div class=\"wp-block-photoessay-media\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"963\" height=\"1024\" src=\"\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Objects-of-Affection-2020-963x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-94951\" srcset=\"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Objects-of-Affection-2020-963x1024.jpg 963w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Objects-of-Affection-2020-598x636.jpg 598w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Objects-of-Affection-2020-768x816.jpg 768w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Objects-of-Affection-2020-1445x1536.jpg 1445w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Objects-of-Affection-2020-1927x2048.jpg 1927w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Objects-of-Affection-2020-941x1000.jpg 941w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 963px) 100vw, 963px\" \/><figcaption><p class=\"wp-block-photoessay-media-caption wp-prepress-component-caption\"><em>Objects of Affection<\/em>\u00a0(2020) Oil on canvas, 85 x 80 in. The painting brims with details from Valdez\u2019s studio.<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe paintings I\u2019m making right now are very much about the studio,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s an environment that I have complete control over and have curated over time. I suppose I end up loving the space that I am creating as it becomes reflective of a personal landscape or as a self-portrait.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2020\u2019s&nbsp;<em>Objects of Affection<\/em>, the canvas brims with details from Valdez\u2019s studio. A skull, a Venus de Milo statue, and an amphora of the goddess Diana fight for space on the desk; a cow pelvis leans against a stack of books about women artists. There\u2019s a story in the objects\u2014all what she calls symbols in art history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI wanted to make a painting that glorified women in art, but without it being a nude of a woman reclining,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen you see women depicted in art, it\u2019s usually from a male lens, so it\u2019s usually sexualized.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Objects of Affection<\/em>&nbsp;is a big painting, more than seven feet tall and six feet wide. Valdez says she spent a lot of time climbing up and down a ladder to add the many details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a very physical action to make that painting,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s interesting because big paintings are considered masculine paintings. I like that little bit of duality in the piece.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Valdez appears in few of her paintings, but says they\u2019re all \u201cself-portraits to some degree.\u201d Before becoming an artist, she studied anthropology and archaeology and sees parallels between recording the past and chronicling her present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-photoessay magazine-block-editorial-photoessay alignwide wp-block-photoessay js-block-editorial-photoessay\"><div class=\"photo-row-thirds-3\">\n<div class=\"photo-3\"><div class=\"wp-block-photoessay-media\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Objects-of-Affection-solo-exhibition-Hashimoto-Contemporary-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-94952\" srcset=\"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Objects-of-Affection-solo-exhibition-Hashimoto-Contemporary-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Objects-of-Affection-solo-exhibition-Hashimoto-Contemporary-636x424.jpg 636w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Objects-of-Affection-solo-exhibition-Hashimoto-Contemporary-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Objects-of-Affection-solo-exhibition-Hashimoto-Contemporary-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Objects-of-Affection-solo-exhibition-Hashimoto-Contemporary-2048x1367.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Objects-of-Affection-solo-exhibition-Hashimoto-Contemporary-1498x1000.jpg 1498w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Objects-of-Affection-solo-exhibition-Hashimoto-Contemporary-900x600.jpg 900w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Objects-of-Affection-solo-exhibition-Hashimoto-Contemporary-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Objects-of-Affection-solo-exhibition-Hashimoto-Contemporary-600x400.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption><p class=\"wp-block-photoessay-media-caption wp-prepress-component-caption\"><em>Objects of Affection<\/em>, solo exhibition installation at Hashimoto Contemporary in San Fancisco, Calif.<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhen I was studying archaeology, we would re-create and reconstruct someone\u2019s life based off the objects that were in that space,\u201d she says. \u201cYou would write a story from the things they surrounded themselves with.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite her autobiographical approach to art, Valdez\u2019s paintings are not straightforward retellings of her life. The paintings show not only what she sees in the studio, but what\u2019s on her mind\u2014things she\u2019s noticed and thought about over days and weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThere are so many moments that go into making one painting,\u201d she says. \u201cI try to layer a lot of moments into a piece. You see me as a person in it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Occasionally, the view shown from a window may be an artistic lie: a snapshot from a previous day or even of a different place altogether. Sometimes, the artworks shown hanging on her studio walls live only in Valdez\u2019s sketchbook\u2014they have no canvas of their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAnd there are little surprises that happen,\u201d says Valdez. If she paints a vase into a picture that doesn\u2019t exist beyond the canvas, she\u2019ll try to re-create the vase in real life\u2014then paint it, for real this time, into another work. \u201cI like to play,\u201d she says. \u201cI like to not take myself too seriously.\u201d When galleries show her work, viewers can track the genesis of an object: the painting that gave birth to its fictional creation, the ceramic that made it real, the painting that immortalized it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI am fascinated by how one idea can lead into the next,\u201d says Valdez. \u201cOr, more specifically, how one painting creates an idea for the next painting. Incorporating ceramics and other mediums into my still life installations feels like a natural step.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-photoessay magazine-block-editorial-photoessay alignwide wp-block-photoessay js-block-editorial-photoessay\"><div class=\"photo-row-square-1-s\">\n<div class=\"photo-1\"><div class=\"wp-block-photoessay-media\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"827\" height=\"1024\" src=\"\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Boston-View-with-Taxidermy-Butterflies-2019-827x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-94946\" srcset=\"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Boston-View-with-Taxidermy-Butterflies-2019-827x1024.jpg 827w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Boston-View-with-Taxidermy-Butterflies-2019-514x636.jpg 514w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Boston-View-with-Taxidermy-Butterflies-2019-768x951.jpg 768w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Boston-View-with-Taxidermy-Butterflies-2019-1240x1536.jpg 1240w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Boston-View-with-Taxidermy-Butterflies-2019-1654x2048.jpg 1654w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Boston-View-with-Taxidermy-Butterflies-2019-808x1000.jpg 808w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 827px) 100vw, 827px\" \/><figcaption><p class=\"wp-block-photoessay-media-caption wp-prepress-component-caption\"><em>Boston View with Taxidermy Butterflies<\/em>\u00a0(2019) Oil and acrylic on canvas 52 x 42 in. In some of Valdez\u2019s paintings, the view shown from a window may be an artistic lie: a snapshot from a previous day or even of a different place altogether.<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"photo-s\"><div class=\"wp-block-photoessay-media\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"803\" src=\"\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Landscape-in-Studio-2018-1024x803.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-94950\" srcset=\"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Landscape-in-Studio-2018-1024x803.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Landscape-in-Studio-2018-636x499.jpg 636w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Landscape-in-Studio-2018-768x602.jpg 768w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Landscape-in-Studio-2018-1536x1205.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Landscape-in-Studio-2018-2048x1606.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/11\/Valdez-Landscape-in-Studio-2018-1275x1000.jpg 1275w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption><p class=\"wp-block-photoessay-media-caption wp-prepress-component-caption\"><em>Landscape in Studio<\/em>\u00a0(2018) Oil and acrylic on canvas 66 x 84 in. Most of Valdez\u2019s paintings start with a rough ballpoint pen sketch. Then she\u2019ll do an underpainting in acrylic before building the final piece with oil paints.<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Most of Valdez\u2019s paintings start with a rough ballpoint pen sketch\u2014she carries a sketchbook everywhere. Once she\u2019s set up her canvas, she\u2019ll do an underpainting in acrylic\u2014\u201cjust getting the skeleton of the painting down\u201d\u2014then begins building the final piece with oil paints. The paints are homemade: she buys pigments, mixing them with oils in her studio. It\u2019s a practice she picked up during Associate Professor Richard Raiselis\u2019 CFA classes on painting and color.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s this journey of this relationship to making the whole painting,\u201d says Valdez, who compares it to growing, making, and fermenting her own food. \u201cIt gives me a better understanding of why certain colors will work with each other, understanding the chemistry of why one pigment is oilier than another, its absorption rate, its lightfastness, how it will change over time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reviewers often comment on Valdez\u2019s use of color, praising its Californian brightness or making favorable comparisons to Henri Matisse. But her relationship to the vibrant colors in her work is complicated. It\u2019s one reason she doesn\u2019t expect the COVID-19 pandemic to reshape what or how she paints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve struggled with depression and anxiety for most of my adult life,\u201d she says. \u201cPeople will look at my paintings and they\u2019ll assume I\u2019m a really happy person. These things are ways of focusing my energy and being able to step into this reality that I\u2019m creating. I don\u2019t want to change that, because I find safety in these spaces I\u2019m creating.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cPlants remind me of home and they just bring life to a space,\u201d says&nbsp;Valdez (\u201913). \u201cAnd they provide form in my paintings. They grow into the space and create lines. They really help me in navigating my compositions.\u201d Plants are everywhere in Valdez\u2019s recent creations: in 2019\u2019s&nbsp;Self-Portrait in Studio, the artist\u2019s face is hidden by [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6310,"featured_media":75554,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[],"bu-publication":[191],"magazine-article-category":[372,379],"magazine-topic":[],"news-article-category":[],"news-topic":[],"bu_edition":[384],"media_type":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/94943"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6310"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94943"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/94943\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95078,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/94943\/revisions\/95078"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94943"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=94943"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazine-article-category?post=94943"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazine-topic?post=94943"},{"taxonomy":"news-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-article-category?post=94943"},{"taxonomy":"news-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-topic?post=94943"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=94943"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=94943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}