Therian's Dream

Therian's Dream is an animal portraits series about the metamorphosis between humans and animals. 

Therian is a generic name applied to any transformation of a human being into another animal, in a complete or partial way, as well as the reverse transformation. For me, these transformations or voluntary disguises were originally inspired by the story of Little Red Riding Hood, a myth that I have completely appropriated: The child became the wolf and, like in a game of hide and seek, accomplices appeared. This work is rooted in childhood, in the imaginative world where everything is possible, where reality blends with fiction, where animals talk and grandmas have long ears.

Valerie Daval has re-modeled a number of well-known famous paintings from the 19 & 20 Century including Manet’s very famous paintings ‘Olympia’ and ‘Dejeuner sur l’herbe’ where the original heads of the figures have been replaced by ‘appropriate’ animal heads. This series of works features portraits of queens and nobles, with exquisitely detailed and sensitive paintings of cats, rabbits, dogs, or even owl heads. There are realistic animal portraits with human shoulders. The effect of the detailed painting and the mix of human and animal forms is appealing and sensuous. 

Karen Sherwood, curator and owner of Cupola Gallery, U.K.

In  2012, I flew to England to bring paintings for an exhibition at the Cupola Gallery in Sheffield. Arriving in Manchester, four paintings were missing from my suitcase: Amadeus, Marius, Max the Fox and Fancy in smoking...  Please call me if you find them!