A Parallel Planets piece by Pepe Serapio
Parallel Planets presents Valerie Chua
in The Quiet One
Story by Jofer Serapio and Interview by Erin Emocling
Mentioned: breaking away from ennui, quietude and silence, and the hardest thing to create visually
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It's hard to look at a Valerie Chua piece and not get enchanted. Each one is like a memory from another world, a world half-imagined, a world beyond our fingertips yet just as familiar as the scent of brewed coffee in the morning. Valerie prefers hers a double vanilla tea latte.
"I started painting in my 2nd year of college, during my spare time at the school’s library, just to break away from ennui and the repetitiveness of academic work," Valerie tells us.
After graduation, she started sending applications to various employers in the fields of graphic design and teaching. She was snubbed by everyone, with the lone call-back telling her she that wasn't qualified because she didn't have a background in Fine Arts. After realizing that all the waiting wasn't doing her any good, she took a desk job in inventory management. It wasn't long before a creative agency took interest in her. She joined them as a freelancer. The jobs started pouring in, thereafter, and she inevitably quit her job to become a full-time artist. She's now a freelance illustrator and visual artist. She also teaches watercolor during the summer.
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| painting by Valerie Chua |
Watercolor is just one of two ways Valerie practices her magic (the other one is acrylic), and it is perhaps just as reasonable to compare her art to magic as it is to poetry.
"People describe my work as whimsical and a play on quietude and silence."
We couldn't agree more.
The things she paints are memorable. Mostly girls and animals, they tell stories reminiscent of fairy tales. Valerie could be a fairy herself and her art the inviting morsels that grant you access to an eternity in her realm, a realm as mystical as it is ageless.
There is a distinctive feminine quality in her work, each piece doused in a bucket of elegance. There is distance yet there is also intimacy. You could spend hours on end just staring at the myriad of characters she puts on display. Before you know it, you've already fallen for them and for their queen as well.
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| painting by Valerie Chua |
Not just any queen, mind you, but a motherly queen. Of all her artworks, Valerie cannot single out a favorite. She takes to them as her children, the concept of a favorite son or daughter lost on her.
"I believe there is a unique experience derived in each work regardless of how complex, grand or small they are."
To Valerie, the greatest fulfillment in getting appreciated for doing what she loves the most is "that someone can relate to what you create. Apart from technique, I think the message is the hardest thing to create visually so it’s fulfilling if someone gets something out of it. It means that your message is received."
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| painting by Valerie Chua |
When asked about the artists she looks up to, she says, "[There's] so many! I look up to almost every artist I meet, mostly to my peers because I get to know how they work. The more I meet them the more I want to work harder."
"I’ve had a couple of collaborations with photographer BJ Pascual in the past. He’s someone I look up to so my collaborations with him are special."
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| painting by Valerie Chua |
In 2011, Valerie had her first solo show. It was called "Backyard of the Universe" and, although she admits it was a milestone for her, she has mixed feelings about it. Before that, she was a part of The Ambassadors of the Philippine Brand at the Ayala Malls, also in 2011.
The world was supposed to end in 2012 but Valerie's was nowhere near its conclusion. In fact, it was just beginning. She had five shows that year, namely, 16/16: Young Star’s 16th Anniversary, Bloom Arts Fest, Manilart, PET Project, and AngINK. Since then, she has been as active as any passionate artist could get.
"Every exhibit is a different experience because I get to work with different themes and sometimes collaborate with different people."
She was also featured in an exhibit at PageOne Hong Kong for Fashionary.
"I wasn’t there to experience it but it was an honor to be called to participate."
Valerie and her art were recently tapped by the Playing Arts project, which will produce a deck of poker cards individually designed by artists from all over the world, and she continues to do commissions through her website.
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| painting by Valerie Chua |
"Keep working hard, don’t stop doing that thing that you love the most. Don’t let your circumstances stop you from being who you want to be and don’t compare yourself to other people who you think are more fortunate than you. It is your responsibility to take advantage of what you have regardless of what’s given to you. Success in your art career or even life in general doesn’t come from just hard work or effort. You have to give it direction and you have to open yourself to new ideas and most especially new experiences. You have to show yourself to the world."— Valerie Chua's message to young and aspiring Filipino artists.
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| painting by Valerie Chua |
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