Valentina Bouza
- Anna Lilli Garai
- Aug 12
- 4 min read
Valentina Bouza is a collage artist from Uruguay, now living in Ibiza. She works entirely by hand, cutting images from magazines and combining them with paint and drawing. Her process is quiet and instinctive, shaped by mood rather than plan. Nature plays a big part in her work, especially the wildflowers she sees on her walks. These elements come together in pieces that feel personal and reflective, often guided by chance and small visual details. For her, making art is also a way to understand herself better and stay connected to what really matters.
Q: In your "Flowers" series, you combine your own photos of plants with cut-out body parts from magazines. What draws you to this pairing?
A: In this particular serie "The Secret Life of Flowers", I didn’t use my own photographs, but worked exclusively with cut-outs from magazines and books. However, in other works I have incorporated my own photos, especially of the natural surroundings where I live, the island of Ibiza. It's a way of combining my passion for photography with images created by others, generating a visual dialogue between different perspectives. What interests me most about this pairing is the ability to convey a sensory experience. Through my photographs, I try to capture the real, organic beauty of nature.
When I mix them with more surreal or symbolic images from magazines, I aim to create a visual universe that expresses the feelings I experience when connecting with nature: wonder, a sense of connection, and at times a dreamlike or mysterious quality.
Q: You only use magazines as source material. Is that a conscious limit or just something that works best for you?
A: I work primarily, and almost exclusively, in analog collage, because I feel that the hands-on process allows me for a more direct and authentic connection with the artwork. I also consciously choose not to reproduce or print specific images, as I truly enjoy being guided by the randomness of what appears.
I’m interested in letting each image emerge from a more intuitive, almost unconscious place, so that this internal information naturally finds its way into the work. For me, that kind of connection is what gives meaning and depth to my artistic practice.
Q: The hand-drawn lines and marks over the images feel very personal. Do they follow any system, or are they more intuitive gestures?
A: In this serie, the drawings I incorporate feel like a kind of code.
They emerge completely intuitively, without following any predefined order, as if they contain information that cannot be translated into words. They don’t have a concrete meaning, but are meant to be felt. I believe each viewer receives from them the message they need at that particular moment, according to their own perception. It’s very similar to what I experience when I observe wildflowers up close during my walks on the island, there’s a mysterious beauty and a subtle language that doesn’t need to be explained, but is deeply felt.
Q: How do you choose which faces or bodies to include? Is it a deliberate search or more about what catches your eye in the moment?
A: The choice of images begins with a very visual and intuitive process. In a first stage, I review magazines and books and I cut those pages or fragments that capture my attention, especially for their colors, textures, size or print quality. Then, in a second phase, at the beginning to compose, I select which of these images will work as main elements and which will accompany secondarily.
From there, I let myself be guided by intuition and allow the images to "move" on paper until they find their fair place, where they can integrate and dialogue with others harmoniously.
It is an organic process, where each piece seems to find its place itself.
Q: You describe collage as a way to connect with yourself. Does that feeling come while making the work, or more when you look back at the finished pieces?
A: The feeling of connection with myself happens throughout the entire creative process, both while I am working on the piece and afterwards when I reflect on the finished work. Lately, this connection has deepened because I approach my inner processes with a more conscious and therapeutic perspective. I allow myself to explore emotions and sensations that arise from my unconscious in order to decode, understand, and transform them through art. Additionally, when I look at the finished collage, I discover and interpret ideas and emotions that I hadn’t noticed during the creative process, and these insights become an important source of information and clarity about issues I experience in my daily life. This journey nourishes not only my personal growth but also enriches my development as an artist.
Q: Plants and flowers appear often in your work. What do they bring to the images, or to your process?
A: Nature is a constant presence in my work because it plays a central role in my life and the lifestyle I’ve chosen. Plants and flowers, in particular, bring me a deep sense of calm and a connection to the essence of who I am. Their beauty and vibrant colors feel to me like one of the most sophisticated artistic expressions of the “Creative energy” we all belong to. I see them as a natural reminder of the unique and singular beauty each of us is born with, a beauty that deserves to be acknowledged, celebrated, and shared.
