Featured Artist: Valerie Bunnell

photos courtesy Valerie Bunnell

When you mix the fantasy behind the Wizard of Oz with bewildering characters from A Nightmare Before Christmas and add a bit of Mother Nature, you get the kind of fantastically unique artwork Valerie Bunnell creates.

The similarly unique and eclectic art gallery, Barking Lizards, is proud to present their artist of the month: Valerie Bunnell. The artist’s work is a fitting example of what Barking Lizards is known for – an escape from reality into a serene and stimulating environment.

Valerie Bunnell is known for her porcelain figures, which are constructed out of a mix of materials. Clay has always been a primary fixture in her work, but over time she has utilized metal, glass and other naturally found objects in the artwork. Her Ceramics Mixed Media Sculpture on display at Barking Lizards brings together random pieces found in our everyday lives to create a sculpture that is from another world.

What makes Valerie Bunnell stand out as an artist is her infusion of narrative identities with her artwork. The use of dolls, marionettes and puppets are an inspiration in her pieces, as they take viewers into an alternate reality, somewhere between the make-believe and real life.

“As an artist I have always wanted to create unusual objects that could refer to other realities, and which would possess a mysterious logic of existence,” Bunnell says of her work.

Barking Lizards art gallery is the premiere spot for artists like Valerie Bunnell to display one-of-a-kind artwork. Her out-of-this-world creations are a true testament to Valerie Bunnell as a person and therefore each piece is infused with originality and passion.