Valerie Depadova

Valerie Depadova is an Algerian painter, based in France. She has exhibited her works in France, Belgium, Denmark and Lebanon. She retains peaceful images from her childhood in Bou Haroun on the Algerian coast. From an early age, she drew, painted and sculpted. Being an artist was evident, natural, and a need. Her father brought back objects that fascinated her from his military missions in the heart of Africa. They inspired her pictorial work with surprising ethnic connotations. The African continent bequeathed her the wealth of a palette of shimmering colours and a candid and spontaneous expression. The characters’ eyes within a triangle of faces, observe time and movement. From this perspective, Valerie connects art to the most important events of life giving her creations a social dimension. The stylization of the human forms and their disproportions, the protuberant or collected lines, the often asymmetrical but always dynamic postures of the characters, point out the African statuary. From this personal and rythmic approach of ouranatomy, emanates a direction of vitality and force which illuminates eachcomposition. Through her evocatively titled works, the artist invites us to join her in her reflection on our predatory world. Valerie observes human beings with great fondness and wishes to convey a message of love, gentleness and joy. She seems to remember that there can be warmth at the heart of winter.