An Interview with the Fabulous Valency!
Valency, one of our new Circus Posterus artists, has been a fixture at Stranger Factory, and her wonderfully whimsical art and ridiculously loud personality is a true Albuquerque treasure. Valency’s brilliant faux-taxidermy sculptures are an exploration of natural history meets surrealism, and we’ve been excited to see her collector base expand and her current body of work evolve into the fantastic display we have been hanging up on our walls right now.
However, she is sadly leaving us to join her family in London in just a few days, so please come to her show FAUNA, opening tomorrow, at Stranger Factory, to give our favourite fabulous lady a proper send off!
Of course, even in the mess of packing boxes and rolls of tape, Valency took the time to answer some interview questions about her upcoming show, her inspirations, and herself. Read on!
CP: You’ve told us this already, but please, let the rest of the world know where in the world a name like “Valency” came from?
After my mom had my two older sisters, who are 11 months apart, I came along four years later – being that I weighed 12 lbs., 2 oz. at birth, my mother was HUGE during her pregnancy and thought that I would FOR SURE be a boy – all of the baby shower décor & gifts were boy-themed. She had only been picking out boy names… when I popped into the world, she had to scramble for a suitable name – that week, a made-for-TV science fiction movie starring William Shatner was televised, and one of the female characters was named “Valency.” There has only been one individual who immediately knew the name of the movie when I told this story – and that would be the amazing Travis Louie!! (The movie is called The People)
CP: Tell us about Fauna! What does this body of work represent?
I have been called an ‘animal freak’ for as long as I can remember… I am luckily married to a very tolerant man who just shakes his head when I add to our ‘mini-farm’ of animals, which currently consists of four cats and one 4-lb. Chihuahua (it would be a much larger collection if we weren’t a ‘mobile’ military family). In my childhood, I had worm-farms, massive pillbug collections, ant farms, cats, dogs, and many varieties of lizards, birds, frogs, and rodents – I was definitely a bit of an Elmyra Duff, which was somewhat difficult considering I grew up in urban Seattle. Fauna is really a chance for me to let that part of me loose – each and every creature I create is absolutely so much fun for me! Giving them color and character and bringing them to life is my joy.
