Valentina Grippo

Valentina Grippo (AKA Valecocoj)

Illustrator, Animator, and Printmaker

My work revolves around creating characters and feminine figures, as well as exploring my own identity and expressing myself through my work. My illustrations are mainly digital, while my prints for now are primarily linocuts, however I love to explore with different mediums and methods. I have a very deep appreciation for printmaking even though I am still quite new at it. I love the process of it from sketching designs, to carving them, to printing them and seeing the results. I often like to record my process and post them to my printmaking Instagram (vale_can_print). I hope to be able to continue this passion of mine alongside the rest of my illustration and animation work.

I have dedicated my final project to challenging myself to reach outside of my comfort zone and produce my animated piece titled “A Saved Memory”. The story was inspired by my own experience of looking through old art to remind myself of how much I have grown since then. It always helps to remind me just how much I have dedicated my life to art, and how much joy it has always brought me. It is moments like these that help to bring me out of a rut whenever it happens, so as a farewell to my years of study I wanted to visually represent this as an expression of my own identity as an artist.

My short animated film tells a story of reconnecting with the inner child and how important it is to tap into that free and whimsical side of ourselves even when we have to be realistic adults. The story follows an artist going through art block, and through her symbolic interaction with her inner child, she finds her creative groove again.