Pretty Pointless Things: Valerie Chua

In a time when images are consumed in seconds and the “vibe” of something often holds more weight than its meaning, Pretty Pointless Things embraces the immediacy of visual pleasure. I do not ask these works to be analyzed or decoded; they exist in the realm of aestheticism, where an image comes together instinctively rather than through rigid conceptual planning.

Using pre-existing photographs of ordinary objects—images I did not take myself—and adhering to my background in figurative painting, I recontextualize them by stripping away depth and detail. Instead, I introduce colors, crop and flatten the image, then paint with thin impulsive strokes, resulting in compositions that remain organized despite its subtractive nature. The low contrast palette reinforces a world that embodies a broader cultural shift—one that prioritizes mood and sensation over meaning, which reflects the process of how I consume everyday media.

As artist and writer John Berger once said, “The relation between what we see and what we know is never settled.” In contrast to today’s visual landscape, which often strives to articulate depth and substance, Pretty Pointless Things redirects focus to the trivial and ephemeral. The works with their simplistic titles, don’t carry inherent meaning, yet, like all things, human nature compels us to revisit and interpret them through personal context, which leads to the show title, Pretty Pointless Things—the works are pretty, the works are pointless, or perhaps just somewhat (yet not entirely) pointless. I recognize that viewers may engage with these works momentarily; drawn in by their visual appeal, only to move on and forget them just as quickly.

This focus on the fleeting carries with it an inherent critique. Much like how digital culture rewards the most eye-catching, easily digestible content, my paintings recognize and play with that dynamic. They mirror a world in which everyday life is curated into an aesthetic, with images consumed not for their deeper meaning but for the atmosphere they create. By acknowledging this shift, I explore the tension between what is seen and its superficial value, where sensory presence takes precedence over narrative.

Valerie Chua