Working predominantly with film and sound, artist and writer Anna Valavaara completed her degree with First Class BA Hons in Fine Art in 2022 at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, where she is currently completing her Masters in Arts and Humanities. She has received the Generator Projects Prize and the Wooosh Gallery Landscape Award.
Valavaara was born in Turku, Finland, and she draws influence from poetic documentary and magical realism, applying it to her film installations, soundscapes, and choreographies. Her works have been exhibited in Scotland and Scandinavia.
Currently, Valavaara is inspired by particles that can move in time. Studying quantum mechanics and infinite decimals gives hope that one would not lose loved ones but could stay in contact through space and time. Maybe all temporalities exist simultaneously.
In several of her film installations, Valavaara seeks to understand memory loss and the slow deterioration of the mind. The feeling of missing someone even when you are with them is a recurring theme. In Anna’s words: He is disappearing, getting more opaque. Forgetting starts with innocence – a childlike quality of curiosity and sensitivity.
