Teressa Valla.

Biography  Teressa Marie Valla

 

Crossing Over

 

During my formative years our family lived in Massachusetts and Vermont. It is during this time I developed a profound regard for the magnificence of the earth and humanity’s relationship to the elements and each other. 

 

Music filled the home of eight children, mostly with the practice of violin, piano, clarinet, drums, or singing. As I unfolded as an artist I responded naturally to sound and dance, the Afro-Brazilian Beats of Rio, the Latin Jazz and Salsa rhythms of Tito Puente and Celia Cruz, and the haunting cante hondo of Andalusia. The majestic forms of a Nijinsky, Isadora Duncan, Alvin Ailey,African dancers, etc. An almost instant sway begins and flows through my paintbrush, fierce joy, through colors both vibrant and subtle creating notes and movement on a canvas.

I began to incorporate elemental materials, as symbol and form into my creative process. I felt “drawing in space,” when I observed “pods,” hanging from three catalpa trees in Central Park. And thus hanging structures were conceived. A variety of “pine needles,” from the evergreen are chosen for their shape as well as “enduring,” references. They are enfolded into pigments and paint transforming the “spirit”

My work has been exhibited internationally and nationally in museums, galleries, alternative spaces and public collections in the USA, Japan, Brazil, Portugal, France, Czech Republic, Germany, England, Hungary, Sweden and Greece. Selected exhibitions include, ”Europa,” Instituto de Artes Visuais, Palacio Pommel, Lisbon, Portugal; La Mama, New York, NY, Gallery K&S, Berlin, Germany,Maryland Institute College of Art; University of Northumbria, Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Contemporary Museum, Baltimore Maryland, Exit Artists Space, Atelier Collectivo Pernambuco, Brazil. Her work was shown at the Sato Museum in Tokyo, Japan, in “Considering Peace,” an exhibition to benefit UNESCO. Public collections in which my work are included in The Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York (Life of the City Collection), Robert Blackburn Printmaking Studio, Museum of the City of New York, The New York Public Library, The Library of Congress, New England Center for Contemporary Art, Tribes Gallery, Mid-Hudson Arts and Science Center, Poughkeepsie, New York. 911 National Museum. Private collections are numerous.

 

I have received honors and grants for my work, including from the Jackson Pollock Foundation, New York Foundation for the Arts, The Annenberg Foundation, the Ed Foundation and Ezra Jack Keats Foundation. Valla has participated in residency fellowships awards in America and abroad: Fundacion Valpariaiso-Spain, Open Art Residency-Greece, Prague Painters Workshop, Vermont Studio Center, the Santa Fe Art Institute and Chashama-New York. She was also invited to represent America in “Eurosculpture,” in Carhaix, France 1994.

 

My work has been exhibited internationally and nationally in museums, galleries, alternative spaces and public collections in the USA, Japan, Brazil, Portugal, France, Mexico, Czech Republic, Germany, England, Hungary, Sweden and Greece. Selected exhibitions include,

”Europa,” Instituto de Artes Visuais, Palacio Pommel, Lisbon, Portugal; Rancho Dolores, Ciudad Serdan, Puebla, Mexico, La Mama, NY, NY, Gallery K&S, Berlin, Germany, Maryland Institute College of Art; University of Northumbria, Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Contemporary Museum, Baltimore Maryland, Exit Artists Space, Atelier Collectivo Pernambuco, Brazil. My work was shown at the Sato Museum in Tokyo, Japan, in “Considering Peace,” an exhibition to benefit UNESCO. Public collections in which her work is included are The Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York (Life of the City Collection), Robert Blackburn Printmaking Studio, Museum of the City of New York, The New York Public Library, The Library of Congress, New England Center for Contemporary Art, Tribes Gallery, Mid-Hudson Arts and Science Center, Poughkeepsie, New York.

 

Private collections are numerous, including the private collections of the Tito Puente Family Estate (NY), the Celia Cruz Estate Foundation (Miami, Fl), the Jobim family collection (Rio de Janiero,Brazil), Leonardo Reira Collection (Caracas, Venezuela), Navarro Family Collection (Puebla, Mexico).