Valerie Carmet

Using a combination of ancient and cutting-edge techniques, Valerie uses vintage and esoteric materials including mosaic tiles, stained glass, ceramics, and even discarded toys to create original works that provoke conversation and engage the senses. Whether commissioned by the client or as part of a limited series by the designer, each piece is a meticulous and singular creation, striking the observer by its originality and attaining a point of “living” status among the owner’s environment.

Today, Valerie Carmet has expanded her artistic field to Pop Art and created a collection of 3 D wooden frames silhouette boxes, filled with collectible or vintage and recycled toys called; “ToyBox : Not intended for small children”. The collection is a limited edition of 10+2 AP signed and numbered by the artist.

Describing her approach with this new medium, Valerie says; “I used the old and the new, the vintage and the collectible as my new palette of paint and color to play with.…I also see beauty in what others might dismiss but when placed together, a new beauty is formed. Little things that cross my view become part of my work. A beach full of broken clams inspired the shell frames and my kids’ discarded toys gathering dust were too sweet and strange to toss, so I began the “ToyBox Series”. Broken and chipped dishes collected for years were used in my Picassiette furniture. I like to give things a second chance, a second life, and make art from them…”

The “ToyBox Collection” is an expression of this constant desire to play, reflecting the image to the viewer, inviting them to reconnect and experience once again the great moments of play. The box is a reminder that play never goes away; it is there, as a constant offering, as a container of all of what is good in the notion of play.

To some, it might communicate that if you do not get to play as a child and if you lived in a family where play was “not intended for children”, you might just become this grown adult who wants to play even more.

Then you might be told, your behavior is “intended for children” only. Go out and play with all of the people in your life, generous of your time to the ones you love and to yourself.