Valerie Salez

Amelie

Amelie is not a talker but she's a hard worker with high reaching dreams.

She went BIG yet had a delicate touch.

 Isabelle

Isabelle is a meticulous worker with a graphic aesthetic.

From the industrial jobs of painting plinths and using the staple gun, to time consuming precision jobs arranging small bits and pieces, Isabelle approached everything with great consideration.

A stickler for detail she loved to problem solve how materials could attach and support each other.

Henry

Henry does not talk to anyone but his family. He just pointed to cans of paint, the white wall and zip ties. He then proceeded to make his own unique paint applicators.

His gestures where fast and furious. The way he moved paint around was beautiful to behold.

This was the result of day one.

On day two he hammered his handmade paint applicators to the wall...

and further painting chaos ensued.

This 15 foot mixed media wall piece was the result.

Henry has a tendency to have violent outbursts. Although his behavior with me was calm and productive. Eventually he found the hammer and want to smash things. I found him a 2 x 4 and some chalk. I promised him he could hammer as much as he wanted as long as he promised me not to cause harmful destruction. He looked me in the eyes and spoke his first words to me "I promise."

He respected the hammer so well that he graduated to an xacto knife. Chalk was carved into figures. Then smashed, of course.

Deshik

Deshik LOVES animals. He only talk about animals. Non-stop. All the time. Facts and figures plus mind boggling questions concerning origins. He can draw any animal with a few simple pen lines.

When Deshik found out I had a dog he insisted I bring her to the gallery. Negrita was an infinitely patient test subject.

My personal favorite. Bone balanced on dog head.

He drew this for her.

Deshik experimented with paint and brush on the wall.  But he scratched his head at how hard it was to control the line.

In the end he drew some birds on paper with a sharpie, had me cut them out, and we pasted them onto his wall painting.

Solange

Solange participated in this project in at Open Space Gallery in Victoria. She was in Vancouver with her mom and I invited her to be a guest artist at GRUNT.  She works swiftly, with confidence and great focus.