Olga Valeska inhabits the spaces that lucid dreams are made of. The French, self taught, fine art photographer describes a creative process of deep introspection where her imagination provides a cocoon from the modern mundane. “I need loneliness to create because it is loneliness that gave me the desire to create”.
Her initial muse may be one of withdrawal but I would suggest the end result is one of vibrant celebration as she trips the light fantastic. If our subconscious mind is a twilight zone filled with a cabinet of unknown curiosities, Valeska is a keen participant, complete in her element. While some of us retreat from these diaphanous places, Valeska is an artist who delights in them. Tearing open the drawers, the hidden secrets, the grand mythologies her practice exposes a revelry in solitude rather than an imposed isolation.
She dives right in as photographer, set designer, costume designer, make-up artist and model, exploring facets of herself that span from Klimt’s watery goddesses, Waterhouse’s nymphs, Kahlo’s fierce self reflections and fairytale protagonists. Rather than being a symptom of a creative control freak or narcissist it is the response of someone willing to get their hands dirty in their imagination. Saturated, hypercolour worlds begin to surface defined by movement, sensuality and hyperbole. As viewers we’re invited to glimpse someone playing dress ups with their daydreams. Valseka is one of the lucky few who get to lucidly explore her subconscious managing to capture a moment bringing it back for the world to see.
