Her paintings present a dreamlike quality of ephemeral spaces punctuated with half seen evocations of memory, experience and sensory imaginings. The content of her paintings are the starting point of a conversation with the viewer where the language is not just visual but emotive, evocative with a subtle potency of shifting illusive signs and symbols. There is a sense that the viewer is invited to decipher meaning through their own non-verbal, non-cognitive contemplation. The paintings are also imbued with a strong visual presence because of their human scale and strength of colour and composition. The only way to fully appreciate Val’s painting is to stand in front of one until the internal noise quietens…