Sarah Valente

This series of drawings is inspired by the infinite colors of rare birds.

Created in Costa Rica in the heart of the forest, the colors and paper are blended, sculpted, and crumpled by hand.

Each sheet is then left on the ground, surrounded by birdsong, under the rain of the tropical forest, which diffuses the colors.

Birds in tropical countries are an integral part of life; their songs accompany daily life at every hour of the day.

Their conversations surprise and fascinate.

They are essential to the survival of the forests because they help spread the seeds that trees subtly make available to them through their fruits or flowers.

The loss of large natural habitats threatens their survival—and thus directly that of the forest—since they are interdependent.

Each drawing becomes a reflection of a moment spent in their company—fragile and colorful like the flutter of wings—as the pigments fade in the rain, which seals their fleeting colors.

Just as in those aerial ballets that we humans observe from the ground: the shimmering, dynamic colors of their feathers blend together in the air, capturing our gaze, which can never follow them very far.

The Birds
2021
Pigment – Rain – Watercolor
Recycled paper from Costa Rica
105 cm x