Valentin Brown
Canada - Ontario
He/Him
Image 1: Captain's Log: September 15th, 2020 There are some things that you just don't get to have, and there may not ever be a time when you won't still hurt for things that cannot be. That being said--one day in August, you do get to feel cold chocolate cake under your nails, and you do get grass to wipe your fingers. You do get the water bottle that squeals as you wash away the frosting film on your tongue, and you do get to throw leftover cake at the pavement. You do get to roar with laughter that was always meant for you to share. One day in August, you sit with the Tornado Rider under a tree behind a pharmacy, because it's too hot to walk to the tree in the middle of a feild that you imagined, and you learn what only cake can teach you. Apocalypse Tip 4: Always eat birthday cake with your hands.
Image 2: Captain's Log: August 31st, 2020 "You're back!" you say to the Future Cat. "Ashes to ashes," he says, "tuna to dust." The Future Cat always comes back because you have a contract--a prayer made on a slip of white paper that you can no longer find. You agree that you, too, must always come home, no matter what happens, so that you will be there to feed the Future Cat. One day, the Future Cat will swallow a mountain whole and become big and tall enough to hang his cloudy eye in the sky to watch over you. The All-Seeing-Cat's-Eye is all the proof that you need. "Tell me," the Future Cat asks, "while you waited for me to appear, did you not wonder what was waiting for you?"
Image 3: Captain's Log: May 11th, 2020 A strong enough wind has finally blown you away. In the Dark Blank Space, you have found mentors, companions, and the inflamed contours of the Dad Shaped Hole in Your Heart. You return to one Save Point again and again--a point by the water where there is a tree that reaches up in two directions. Every time you sit under the tree, where its two trunks meet just above the ground, you are different. Your mask becomes more damp with every breath you take. The heat of the All Seeing Cat's Eye beats down on your forehead. Part of you is already waiting for more wind.
Using mixed media images, tactile sculpture, and audio narrative, Valentin Brown pieces together an ongoing mythology of monsters that reframes his experience of Madness with awe, humour, and hope—and weaves accessibility right at the heart of it all. In 2019, Valentin was awarded the Won Lee Fellowship and the Intergenerational LGBT Artist Residency, and exhibited his first solo show, “Body Farm,” with Tangled Art + Disability. Valentin will participate in Centre3’s 2021 Emerging Artist Residency and will show a new solo exhibit of “Body Farm” at Hamilton Artists Inc. in 2023.
Areas of Interest:
- Visual Arts
- Installation / Sculpture
- Literary Arts
- Sound Art
Roles:
- Practicing artist or maker
- Community member
Expertise:
- Audio Description
- Active Listening
- Personal Support
- Image Description
Identifies with:
- Disabled
- Mad
- Fat
- Survivor
- Queer