myclaraoceans
Valeria Desousa (she/her) was born in Toronto, ON and now living in Vancouver, BC. She is a self-taught artist and has had a career in aviation but during the 2020 pandemic it all came to a temporary halt. Having so much time to reflect and ponder on the next steps she decided to dive into art and use the creation of art pieces as a means of therapeutic processing and cathartic release. During the year of 2020 she created an entire collection inspired by nature as well as her learned life lessons in the form of Oracle Cards.
Inspired by her Mexican-Venezuelan heritage and spirituality, symbology, and vivid colours are used. The use of symbology creates a subjective experience for each viewer, while vivid colours are often used as a celebration of life. She finds art to be a very spiritual aspect personally because you are creating something out of nothing, expressing yourself through creation
She focuses her art on the experience of interpretation and introspection to evoke conversation and emotions. She works primarily with acrylic on canvas and is inspired by her travels and learning how the world can work in harmony. The beauty of fungi, the cyclical nature of oceans and streams, the graceful movement of hummingbirds and migration patterns of birds are some of the natural phenomena she learns from. The best way she knows how to preserve and protect our world is through painting it.
Valeria’s process varies between planned ideas, play, and “Co-Creation”. She plays with the paints and leans into familiar images while allowing herself to paint through a natural ease. Co-creation” is when she feels she is creating with Creation itself and these works have shown themselves to be quite magical and turn out better than I could ever imagine.
Her purpose behind the art is to evoke a conversation and practice around identity and cultural heritage. Illustrating wisdoms from her Indigenous heritage and the world around her, she involves ancestors, spirituality, and decolonization in her work. What keeps her motivated to continue everyday is to create a world where we are conscious and practising the reciprocal relationship mother earth has gifted us.
Artwork Gallery (Click images to enlarge)
Artwork Below may be Different from what is Shown at the Exhibit
