Project History

The Visiting Artist on the Silk Route is a continuation of several international collaborative projects between Valentina and leading environmental organizations, educational and art institutions, scientists and educators. These include:

• Environmental art educator, in partnership between the International Cane Foundation, conducted at Xianghai Nature Reserve in northeastern China, Manchuria, Keerqin, Inner Mongolia and Muriavovka Nature Park in eastern Russia. (2007 and 2008)

• Visiting Artist at the Highland Archaeology Project at Pang Mapha (HAPP) in Northwestern Thailand at the invitation of Dr. Rasmi Shoocongdej, Professor at Silpakorn University and Principle Investigator of Highland Archaeology Project. (2006) 

• Visiting Artist and Art in Box workshops for students at the College of the Marshall Islands, Republic of the Marshall Islands with logistical support from United States Embassy, Majuro. (2006) 

• Visiting Artist in Riga, Latvia and Tallinn, Estonia for the Art in Embassy Program (AIEP), United States Department of State in cooperation with the United States Embassies. The program included exhibitions of her artwork at the Ambassador’s Residences. (2002) 

• Artist in Residence at Silpakorn University, Bangkok with a grant from the United States Embassy, Bangkok. Valentina initiated an art and cultural conservation program that enabled Silpakorn University professors and graduate students to visit ancient temples in Khorat, Northwestern Thailand and meet with their counterparts at Mahasarakam University in Khorat, Thailand. (2001) 

• Art in a Box education programs for children at risk in Cambodia (2005-2009) and human rights projects in post-war Cambodia (1994-1998)

2006
My Riverbirds and Rainforest Paintings are inspired by travels on the Silk Road and visits to the rain forests of Southeast Asia.

Early in my career, I had became interested in the Lascaux and Altamira cave paintings in France and Spain. These mysterious paintings of horses and bison that were painted between 20-40,000 years ago inspired me to prepare my own "cave-wall" paintings. I chose encaustic, a wax material used by the Egyptians combined with layers of oil paint, as well as glazing and fresco, to create a"strata" out of paint. In this way, the surfaces of my paintings, such as in Gray Bird and Branches, suggest both the discoveries found in ancient strata and the vast wetland and rainforest habitats visited each year by migrating birds.

Symbols of flora and fauna-both fossil and imaginary-as well as pictographic human figures, appear in my paintings and can be seen in Red Bird with Pictographs. In Mountain Site, the birds become the witness and observer of human activity. The paintings also describe landscapes, particularly rainforests and riverbanks. What makes nature so interesting to me are the multiple realities that coexist in nature; that is, nature can simultaneously be the edge of a village, a layer of canopy, a forest floor, an overlapping habitat.

I started traveling on the Silk Route and in Southeast Asia to research Buddhist cave paintings. At times I retraced the journeys of 19th century "explorer artists" who had traveled as members of scientific expeditions. They were observers of nature who communicated the direct experience of far away places to the public through their art. Whereas these earlier explorer artists documented flora and fauna that had been unknown to the west, my Riverbirds and Rainforest Paintings are pitched between the more ancient view and those of contemporary sensibilities—the explorer mapping the correspondences that are suggested between the flights of migration and the landscape of human imagination. The paintings River Journey and River Journey with Amber Crane describe the journey taken from the point of view of both the explorer and the cranes.

In Southeast Asia, I became drawn to the idea of "Buddhist space." I observed that something of the quality of spaciousness at the heart of Buddhist teachings had entered my paintings. For example, in Cove Site with Water Birds, perspectival space is described by shifts in color; the experience of overlapping habitats is suggested by the softening of boundaries as it occurs in the physicality of paint; the interchange of ideas is reflected by symbols painted in layers of paint that functions as a kind of strata. Where the paintings refer to the wide array of wetland and forest habitats it is to suggest a natural ecosystem in which all life is interdependent. Perhaps the ideas of interdependence and non-harming found in Buddhist teachings can have a good effect on conservation.

I learned recently that cranes could fly at altitudes as high as 20-29,000 feet. This inspired the paintings Flight and On the Wing. The flying cranes awaken us to the heights of human imagination and the potential within each of us to transform our lives. As a subject for art, the crane is both continuous movement and living form. Cranes are the subjects of myths and legends in every country where they are found to exist. They inspire us with their resiliency and beauty as they continue to survive in a rapidly developing world.

Art in a Box

I believe that being an artist is to be a citizen of the world and that art builds bridges of friendship across cultures. I have had many experiences living and working abroad that have taught me that people have more in common than we have differences. For example, I have traveled as an "Art Ambassador" for the Arts in Embassies Program; taught at Silpakorn University in Bangkok and I lived in Cambodia where I worked as a human rights photographer on a book about women and children survivors of the Khmer Rouge.

I wanted to give something back to the people in Asia and around the world for all the inspiration their art and communities have given me. Last year, I started an international Non Profit Organization, called Art in a Box to promote international understanding across geographic, artistic and cultural borders through cultural exchange, art and art education. We believe that art builds bridges of understanding and enables people from different backgrounds to discover new ways of understanding ourselves, each other and the world.

Art in a Box partners with communities around the world that are facing crisis situations due to war, public health emergencies, natural disasters or poverty, and assists in recovery and empowerment through art. We bring boxes of art supplies and art resources in a portable box to communities around the world that are facing crisis situations. Each box contains art supplies and instructional materials designed to sustain an ongoing art program. The boxes can be utilized almost anywhere. We respect the depth and diversity of people who are often viewed as representatives of their circumstances rather than as unique individuals.

Last year, Art in a Box conducted art workshops and brought art supplies for children who live at the municipal dump in Guatemala City, for AIDS orphans in Bangkok and for street children in Cambodia.

Your donations to our programs will help us to give the dignity of self expression and help disadvantaged communities in Asia.