“As a transplant to Houston from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; I am impressed by the lines of inquiry that Valentina has initiated in such a short time as a resident of our city. Her work explores concepts of tension often found at the intersections of control and release, time and space, history, and the future.  Valentina’s background as a creative writer and visual/performance artist creates a unique crossover of skills that inform one another. Her ability to research, respond and develop a new body of work using organic material, history, text, and local landscape highlights the fragility of memory, spoken word, text, and materiality, while her performance and visual artwork emphasize her intuition, adaptability, and creative range.  I enjoyed getting to know Valentina’s work through this process and look forward to her future projects. “ – Ashley Dehoyos, Curator, Diverseworks

Valentina Jager (B. 1985, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico) moved from Mexico to Houston in 2018 to pursue a PhD in Creative Writing in Spanish when the influence of writing and literature started to take a focal point in her work. She had formerly participated in residency programs such as Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture, Fieldworks Marfa, and the Syros Institute. Her work has been featured in several exhibitions at galleries and museums internationally such as the Orange County Museum of Art, Paul Kasmin Gallery New York, and the Kunstverein Göttingen.

Jager’s practice unfolds in the area between writing, book and sculpture making, and performance. Her work explores expanded notions of translation, ephemerality, the life cycles of materials and the material conditions that allow art and literature to exist. 

Valentina Jager is the recipient of the 2020 Houston Artadia Award.