Arts Thread

Above: Chloe Valorso 1. Discoshaman / 2. Spirit Stones/ 3. RCA show amulets/ 4. Lofi faces/ 5. Lofi faces/

ARTS THREAD member & Jewellery designer Chloe Valorso is a graduate of both Central Saint Martins UAL and the Royal College of Art. Her pieces, contemporary shamanic amulets, aim to empower, heal and enlighten the wearer.  We caught up with the upcoming designer to learn more about her practice, inspirations and get her thoughts on how the current COVID-19 crisis will influence creativity.

ARTS THREAD: Tell us about yourself 

Chloe Valorso: I am an artist, jeweller, storyteller and shaman. After graduating from the BA Jewellery design course at Central Saint Martins with first honours, I travelled to discover new cultures and crafts. I interned for the jeweller Delfina Delettrez in Rome, learnt wax carving in Florence and went to Indonesia for an artist residency.

I pursued my studies in the Royal College of Art MA Jewellery & Metal course where I explored the context in which my work exists. I won the RCA's Onno Boekhoudt travel award to take part in shamanic training in Bali. This was a turning point in my practice, it permitted me to merge my spiritual beliefs with my studio work.

Since graduating, I have been awarded the Marzee Graduate Prize and exhibited for London Design Festival and Collect. I am represented in three galleries: Mint in London, Intro Marzee in Amsterdam and OhmyBlue in Venice where I show my jewellery and sculptures. I also graduated as a Shamanic breathwork facilitator and Hatha yoga teacher. I am currently artist in residence at the Glasgow School of Art.

ARTS THREAD: Please let us know about your curated space at the RCA show?

Chloe Valorso: My RCA show was called No one told you I was from the future. Working with the resurgence of magic, in the witching hours of the 21st century, I presented hybrid pieces belonging to a liminal reality. I wanted to create an immersive experience, a portal to the 'in between', an anthropomorphic reality where we talk to spirits and Siri, charge our crystals and our laptops: a contemporary shaman's cave.

Passing through the LionWomen gatekeepers, the visitor enters to see and be seen. Under the distorted lights of a mother of pearl disco ball and accompanied by an enigmatic sound, the pieces appear to emerge from the walls covered with blown up prints of stones, making the visitor wonder if they are geological inclusions or constellations. The show acted as an invitation to perceive the re-enchantment of our world.

ARTS THREAD: What led you to want to curate your own show in Munich this year?

Chloe Valorso: I really enjoyed curating a space for the RCA show and I wrote my thesis on alternative ways of displaying with a focus on the cabinet of curiosity. For Munich Jewellery Week, I wanted to do it again on a bigger scale, inviting other artists to work with me on the theme: Lofi Faces. It started with a simple question - We see faces everywhere, what are they trying to tell us ? Seven fresh international female artists researching this hidden world and the messages they are trying to convey, through magic, play and making. From the ever popular ‘smiley’ to looser and more interpretive expressions. I curated the exhibition like a surrealist exquisite corpse, creating uncanny spirits with the jewellery and drawings on the walls. Earrings become eyes, chains become smiles...

ARTS THREAD: What have you learned from the experience? And what three pieces of advice would you give someone curating a show on their own for the first time?

Chloe Valorso: Curating and exhibiting in a group show is all about teamwork. I would like to rephrase the question to which tools I learnt to make a successful exhibition. In my studies, I learned how to be resourceful and creative; In my shamanic and yoga trainings, I learned how to collaborate, communicate and how to stay calm under pressure!

The key to curation is the people you work with, like Hinako Omori with her magical music, Lara Orawski with a camera in one hand and a drill in the other. It's also the space you are exhibiting in, and finally it's how you promote it.

ARTS THREAD: What are your thoughts on how the current crisis could evolve gallery curation?

Chloe Valorso: I believe our generation of artists is already innovating in ways of exhibiting. We are coming together in collectives, pop ups, online shows, to present our works and promote it by ourselves. We are creating new circuits. The current crisis is highlighting the artistic community, how we support each other, gallery or not.

ARTS THREAD: What are you currently working on?

Chloe Valorso: Being without my usual studio setup, I am experimenting with the old and new. I am working with all my research images I collected over the years, all the unfinished projects. I am using them as raw material to paint on, collage with and assemble in an edition of exquisite-Zines. Like an archaeologist, I dig in the cluster of stuff I have been collecting. As a designer and maker I am creating a new narrative out of it.

ARTS THREAD: Thank you Chloe- we wish you every success!