For All The Love You Gave To Me

April 13th - May 3rd 2019

Pt.2 Gallery

Oakland, California

pt. 2 Gallery is proud to present For All The Love You Gave To Me, a solo exhibition by Oakland-based artist Paige Valentine. The show features ceramic sculptures that celebrate kinship, love, and connection. 

In the artist’s words: “For All The Love You Gave To Me (and asked for nothing in return,)” flashes from the tombstone of a Basset Hound briefly in Errol Morris’ Gates of Heaven. It’s a glimpse of a commemoration encapsulating the unconditional love that a dog had to its person and vice-versa. It made me think that the love a dog feels is beyond what we can imagine, and  what defines the differences between the dog and the human it their the companionship, and that love and relationship is all all that matters. I’m constantly lost in translation, trying to find the words to express what this means, and all I have is a feeling. My ceramics are vessels and objects that dwell in love, they’re commemorations and offerings, smaller pieces to a bigger shrine. The imagery is automatic and somewhat nostalgic, sometimes a nostalgia I have never experienced. Whether it’s in memoriam of a companion, or a still in a movie, the appropriation of art history on a vessel is the core of my practice, which is itself a constant search for connection. At the end of the day, I am just a painter who loves dogs and making ceramics.”