Valerie Hird is known for creating work that has a unique focus on cultural myths and their interaction with historical memory. Her research lead her to travel the world for eighteen years. She has visited and traveled with semi-nomadic communities in Morocco, Turkey and Central Asia. Through the years she has also tackled the legacy of myth and metaphor within her own society– the culture America consciously or unconsciously exports to the rest of the world.
Hird believes that the fictionalization of history provides a rich and evocative tool for societies that rely on oral narrative. That wealth of metaphor, fact and cultural myth was her creative home while abroad for eighteen years. Valerie now focuses on her own oral traditions– based on radio stations, television news, and other forms of media that bombard us with opinions and information on a daily basis. Valerie finds that these sources utilize a similar strategy compared to the oral histories she embraced while traveling– they are equally rich as a source for visual imagery.
BFA from Rhode Island School of Design 1978, MFA from Vermont College at Union University 2007. Adjunct profesor of drawing at St Michaels College, Colchester,VT.
Website
http://www.valeriehird.com
