Heaven in Hell
“Essentially, I named the photo series "Heaven in Hell" which I created this past semester because I began to explore religion and what that means for me as I seek a "higher power." Growing up, I was raised in a very Christian household. Bible study, church camps every summer, helping out with the band, you name it. I don't resent my parents necessarily for making me participate in all these things, I get it. In a way, religion/spirituality is kind of made for people who want to help themselves. Religion+spirituality is meant to help you prove and be the best version of yourself. As I grew up however, reaching the age of teenage angst, I knew how to tune everything out. I knew how to take what I got from each service and just let it simmer in my head, without REALLY letting it apply to my life. Now that I'm older, I take everything a lot less seriously (which in a way is sort of ironic).
But, at the time I made this photo series "Heaven in Hell" I was having a lot of dreams about death. I dreamt about so many ways I could die, and they all felt vivid. I wasn't necessarily scared of my dreams, it's just the fact that it was so constant for like a week that made me so worrisome. I began to just look back at my younger self, who grasped so much hope through a higher power, and I began to realize that part of myself has dissipated. Planning the shoot, I knew I wanted to hold some sort of symbolism in my work because religion contains so many symbols (circle = way of life, green = earth / flesh, pink = femininity) and in a way, it strikes that conversation, at least in my head, that these thoughts of my own are not new. Nor will they ever BE new.
Finding spirituality is so universal to the human experience. Knowing that I haven't fully reached a position where I am comfortable in what I believe in is somehow comforting, because I know I still have so much to unpack in myself and my own upbringing that I can still tackle and think to myself "there's no rush."
— Valeria on her series Heaven in Hell
Valeria is a 19-year-old art school student from Virginia. She is currently studying Photography and a minor in creative advertising. Her work ranges from film and digital photography and other alternative processes in the darkroom. Themes in her work range from intimacy, identity, nostalgia, childhood, and love. She is a Taurus and has an identical twin sister. In her free time, she likes to thrift, go on Twitter, make graphics on Photoshop, listen to music and take naps. You can find her on her photography account @ValMPhoto and her duo art account @doublescene.