Paula Valenzuela, Abstract Artist & Psychotherapist

In honor of RBG and her work as a Supreme Court Justice, done while donning her collars, I am featuring women I admire, in my ‘Woolen Armor’ collars. Women who have created their lives, pushing boundaries & expectations in pursuit of their dreams.

Paula Valenzuela is every bit, that. An Abstract Artist/Psychotherapist, who explores mixed media art as a rich metaphor for the layers and complexities of the human experience.

Recently, Paula & I spent the afternoon together at her studio in Sausalito where we chatted about art & life and how she has created a life embracing her passion, even as we maneuver through a pandemic.

Paula’s art and it’s many layers, appeal to my appreciation of pattern play, texture and manner of finding unique relationships between seemingly disparate ideas. Paula covers a canvas, excavates the surface, over and over again, adds more layers and repeats the adding & extracting until she finds the path that conveys her concept.

She reveals the ‘hidden history to the surface’.

Her latest work, Collective Grief, was created during the early months of the pandemic’s hold on the US.  

The collection, is perfectly summarized by the words of writer, David Kessler—"There is something powerful about naming this collective experience ‘Grief’.  It helps us feel and make meaning of what’s inside of us.  When you name it, you feel it and it moves through you.  Emotions need motion.”

There is a truly authentic voice in Paula’s work.   She explores the light and dark within the individual; noting the layers and what a person shares with the world versus that which we keep to ourselves;  how the conscious and unconscious experience lives within each one of us.

Paula’s work is best left to the physical discovery.  To appreciate her expression is to take in the canvases and experience the depth, as though you are floating through the vast natural world. Until you can get to her studio, I’m happy ta share her work here.

In the words of Paula Valenzuela—

“As an artist and psychologist, I am interested in exploring the unconscious and human process that we all go through when embraced in an act of spontaneous creativity, removing any & all preconceived ideas.

“Painting for me is a way to be open to the moment, to be fully present in my body and mind. My work process is exploratory, utilizing multiple materials and textures. I work with pouring mediums, fluid acrylics, resins and pigments that allow me a flowing movement and to be surprised every time. I work through several paintings at once, mixing, dripping, scratching painting, covering, uncovering, brushing and scratching again—until I get to a place with each piece that reflects a moment in time, the unexpected.

Why do you paint?

Paula—”I create art because it is a way to discover myself, coming back to my true essence.

I make art because I feel the need to visually express my feelings and thoughts in order to understand them and make sense of myself and my place in the world around me. 

Painting for me is a way to be fully present in my body and mind. When I’m in this creative space, I feel more connected to a collective experience, aspects that were unconscious can become conscious.

From where do you draw inspiration?

Paula—”I’m inspired by the textures and colors found in nature, specially desert landscapes and organic shapes like rocks and minerals, using earthy colors as a reference to this organic materials.  I am inspired by collective symbols used by ancient cultures, like spirals, labrinyths, trees, etc., sometimes hidden under layers and at other times more visible. I have always been very interested in archetypical symbols and primitive marks, the relation between art and spirituality, psychology and the healing arts.

Lately I have been exploring the concept of impermanence, the relation of birth and death, collective consciousness. And during this pandemic, I’ve explored the theme of “collective grief”.

The leap from psychologist to artist, how?

Paula—”I can’t remember a time in my life when I wasn’t creating art. As a young girl, I would spend hours drawing, creating mandalas and trying new combinations of colors.
Growing up I had classes with talented Chilean artists, but always kept my art-making as a private passion that I shared only with a very small community.

“Pursuing a professional career in Clinical Psychology, I was able to integrate my interest in art and mental health.  I studied new techniques, tried different media and had an intermittent art practice. But it wasn’t until after moving from Chile to Oakland, California in 2013, that I realized I wanted to become a professional artist; to take my art making to new level and begin sharing it with a larger audience. It was something that happened organically.  I made the leap to pursue my lifelong passion of making art, to realize a dream. However, my psychology training lives within each piece I create. 

“What interests me, what themes I explore in my work are always related to an internal or introspective view of the human experience and the transformations that we all move through.

“I see great similarity between psychotherapy and a creative practice.  In this transitional space when you one vulnerable &  looking inward, change can happen; the aspects that are unconscious become more conscious.”

Best art career advice you've ever received?

Paula—”Set up your intentions clearly and follow through, get involved in a community and be generous on sharing what you have learned.”