studio, 2019
studio, 2019
Valerie Kelemen builds a newly-righted world in oils, gouaches, fabrics,
found items, and plastics. Channeling a deep sense of anxiety over waste and privilege, her
cartoonish narrative works suggest a fierce, neo-futuristic escape to a world of muscular femininity
where injustices have been rectified, waste has been integrated, colonialism implodes, and new
life thrives. Her work poses -- and sometimes responds to -- questions of varying importance: Is
individual action futile? What happened to the bird I neglected to rescue, but pretended I did?
How will the world be different if I don’t go through my family’s trash and re-sort everything? She
approaches these questions as a consumer herself, a waster, a humanist, and also, a
naturalist with a desire to do right.
Instagram @kvek22