VAL French, 1967-2016

VAL (Valérie Goutard) was born in France in May 1967. She spent her childhood and early teenage years in Africa. From there she lived in Europe and South America returning to France after gaining her higher education in Venezuela. Val was strongly influenced by her time abroad and identified with humanism rather than as a citizen belonging to any country.

For ten years, her marketing career took her to London, Madrid, and eventually back to Paris. But it was in 2002 when a sculptor friend would introduce her to a more creative and alternative path. Val’s initial interaction with sculpture had ignited something deep within, and would eventually be her calling to an inner passion that once arisen, would never be diminished.