Petra Valentova's Studio Visit: April 13, 2012
A chain link visit by Katerina Lanfranco
Entering in the Petra's light filled studio in L.I.C., I can tell right away that there's been a lot of creative activity since the last time I visited. Evidence in the form of art work and projects fills my mind's eye, even before we start talking about Petra's new work and many artistic endeavors. In the middle of the studio is an over sized cute but slightly menacing (in its raw in-progress form), rubber duck. The duck model is made of styrofoam (for the core) and plaster layered over it. The duck will eventually be made of plastic or metal depending on various factors. When finished, the duck will live as a permanent public art work in a NYC city park. Petra uses styrofoam in other ways too. She makes cutout 3/4 sized figures as sculptures or interactive installations. While Petra's artwork is meant to exist in many different viewing spaces; public, private, museums, interactive installations, galleries, art festivals etc. - her aesthetic has a consistent minimalist sentiment combined with direct and oblique autobiographical references. Even in her more ornamental 2D work there is still a direct minimalism at work: high chroma colors and specific repeating, often geometric shapes. As an artist, Petra does not fuss around with a lot of color mixing or minute variations. She does however, constantly refine her conceptual approaches to her work and to her approach to being an artist. I imagine that an ideal contribution for the 2013 art exhibition Collectively Assembled would be something that combines her interest in both 2D and 3D working methods.
To see more examples of her work please look at her website at: www.petravalentova.com
