Today we’d like to introduce you to Valentina Kawaii Universe.
Valentina, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I drew on my walls from my crib. My grandmother said, “don’t let her do that.” My mother & Aunts said, “it’s ok; there might be something there!” I’ve never stopped.
A childhood going through thousands of crayons, sidewalk chalk art, large drawings on the back of my grandfather’s engineering blueprints, and filling my sketchbooks, I was always drawing.
As a child, I became a fan of Anime ( Japanimation ) and traditional illustration. I was not necessarily a die-hard fan, but certainly an appreciator of its unique features.
This appreciation and admiration intensified my desire to draw and motivated me to continue drawing and into high school and college. It became my way of “participating” in Anime rather just being a spectator of anime. And it is still my philosophy, in every area of my life to this day: I am a participator, not a spectator.
I accumulated sketchbook upon sketchbook. I filled every page with everything I observed, been a fan of or imagined, consistently, on a daily basis.
School friends commissioned and paid me to create drawings for them.
Not being afraid of drawing big, detailed and fast and using everything I had, I persisted until it became a natural tendency, like a breathe, creating constantly, building a mental linear database and designing only in pen to be sure of my lines.
My love of the arts morphed into a love of playing musical instruments with a classical dedication, and drawing took a bit of a backseat for a short time. (Music is great cross-training for the visual arts, actually, and complimentary. )
BUT it all eventually circled back and re-sparked into graphic design (composition) and industrial illustration (hands-on) studies, all of which had me delve into multidisciplinary fortes with — artisan meets technological aspects AND that crystalized my many loves into the specialized, multimedia, hands-on hybrid I’ve made over the years in my Kawaii Universe.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
Kawaii Universe: It’s all in the name really. ” Kawaii” means cute in Japanese and “Universe,” well, it’s all about energy-cuteness ever-expanding in a context of super colors and concepts as a quality multimedia experience.
It’s original cute-culture pop art design & illustrations that I have expanded into fine-art-artisan-made, highest standard media; soft sculpture pillows, archival stickers prints, state-of-the-art apparel, pastels on canvas, large-scale prints on various media, and large-scale outdoor murals by commission.
I make everything one-by-one as my ArtWork, emphasis on WORK.
British Newspaper, The Guardian, put it best, methinks: “Japanese worship of cuteness (kawaii), artist Valentina turns art’s relationship with commerce on its head. Painstakingly handmade stickers masquerade as mass-produced, disposable manga decals.”
My message is that I won’t and don’t sacrifice colors & details and quality. I’m always hands-on creating, implementing and overseeing all aspects.
Furthermore and most importantly, my message is to create lighthearted subject matter and concepts that subjectify objects not objectify subjects.
Artists rarely, if ever pursue art for the money. Nonetheless, we all have bills and responsibilities, and many aspiring artists are discouraged from pursuing art due to financial reasons. Any advice or thoughts you’d like to share with prospective artists?
Don’t let that dictate your art because then it won’t be what you wanted to do in the beginning.
Do your best to navigate all the hurdles.
Budgets are relative.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
You can collect, enjoy and experience Kawaii Universe pop art at the Harold Golen Gallery in the heart of the Wynwood Arts District almost every day of the week.
We participate in many, many local events for some years now and have been based in Wynwood for a while.
We have exhibited during Wynwood Art Walk more than 50 times.
You can support Kawaii Universe by collecting a sticker, pillow, apparel or Art print or pastel on canvas while in the gallery. I keep an “infinite” assortment of quality sticker prints, comfy soft-sculpture pillows, fashion apparel and more.
Visit us on the web today: http://www.kawaiiuniverse.com
Contact Info:
- Address: Kawaii Universe @ Harold Golen Gallery
2294 NW 2nd Ave
Wynwood Arts District
Miami FL 33127 - Website: http://www.Kawaiiuniverse.com
- Phone: 1(650)395-9143
- Email: kawaiiuniversewynwood@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kawaiiuniverse
- Facebook: https://fb.com/KawaiiUniverseStudio
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/kawaiiuniverse
- Other: @kawaii_universe on poshmark
Image Credit:
Monserrat of Kawaii Universe
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