Valentina Abadia

VALENTINA ABADÍA 

Born in Cali, Colombia, Valentina’s formative years were spent in the UK, Spain and France. Her passion for art was fostered at an early age, ensuring she always had a medium for creative experimentation. It was during a summer in Florence at the age of 16, that she was first introduced to oil paint and pastels, where through drawings of Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci and painting from real life, she was able to further develop her passion for the Arts.
After completing her studies in France, Valentina decided to relocate to USA and studied at Penn State University. It was here that she developed a firm foundation in art and art history. While she was able to experiment with sculpture, printmaking, photography and mixed media, her passion always remained with painting and drawing.
Valentina has lived in New York, London and Paris, where she has been able to explore the wide variety of museums and galleries these cities have to offer.
Valentina currently resides in Spain.
Artist’s Statement
As a Colombian who has lived most of her life in Europe, I am fortunate enough to be able to draw on a variety of cultural traditions in terms of artistic expression. Having been born in a city located in the south-west of the country, famed for blending Andean and Afro-Caribbean cross-cultural traditions, I have always tried to couple this cultural and intellectual heritage to my more structured European education. I have been immensely inspired by travelling. Morocco and India have been a great influence on some of my artwork, whether by colour palette or subject matter.
I am a realist painter, working primarily from photographic references. I find inspiration in many subjects, whether it is figure, portrait, landscape or still life. My paintings and drawings are representational reflections of people, objects, or scenes that have caught my eye. Sometimes the attraction is purely aesthetic; the way light hits someone’s skin or the dynamic energy of a crowd. Other times the subject has thematic or narrative significance that references personal experience.