Valentina Pagetto
(any pronouns)
Italian-born illustrator based in 'Vancouver', located on the unceded ancestral and traditional territories of the Coast Salish peoples.
Working with both digital and acrylic media, I collaborate primarily with local environmental nonprofits to create vibrant, whimsical, and educational botanical drawings of Pacific Northwest native plant life.Clients include the David Suzuki Foundation, the Environmental Youth Alliance, Free the Fern, and the Cypress Community Garden.
© Valentina Pagetto. All rights reserved.
Field Guides Exhibition (2024)
I was delighted to be invited by Riley Park Community Garden to participate in the Vancouver Park Board's Field Guides exhibit. My work was displayed alongside that of artists in residence at various fieldhouses across Vancouver parks, as well as programming from neighborhood houses inhabiting these spaces.
Douglas Fir Teaching Garden Interpretive Signage (2024)
Working with Free the Fern, I designed an interpretive sign for their Douglas Fir Teaching Garden. The sign features an abundance of native plants found in the garden and in the rewilding areas surrounding it.
Cypress Pollinator Garden Installation (2021)
As part of the City of Vancouver's Neighborhood Grants Program, I was commissioned to create an installation featuring illustrations of native butterflies. It is on display within the Cypress Community Garden's Pollinator Garden, part of the David Suzuki Foundation's butterflyway project.
Indigenous Pollinator Plant Map Initiative (2019-21)
In collaboration with the David Suzuki Foundation's Butterfly Ranger Program, I created 12 illustrations of pollinator plants native to the Lower Mainland. The art is accompanied by traditional teachings contributed by Métis Herbalist Lori Snyder and members of the Musqueam nation. It will be published as a reference booklet alongside the Rangers' planned Indigenous Pollinator Plant Map.
© Valentina Pagetto. All rights reserved.
Indigenous Pollinator Plant Map Initiative (2019-21)
As a third-culture immigrant settler, it is important to me to respect the longstanding relationship between the land we live on and the nations who have inhabited it for generations. It was an honor for me to work with Lori Snyder and the Musqueam Nation to communicate traditional Indigenous teachings through these illustrations. My intention for these pieces, developed through conversations with Lori, is to encourage others to connect with this land outside of colonial institutional contexts and to head outdoors to forge personal relationships with the native plants around them.For more information, on the David Suzuki Foundation's IPP Map initiative, click here.
© Valentina Pagetto. All rights reserved.
Cypress Pollinator Garden Installation (2021)
Illustrations were created digitally and inkjet printed onto OHP (Overhead Projector) film, then were laminated and hung using fishing line.For more information on the Cypress Pollinator garden, click here.
© Valentina Pagetto. All rights reserved.
Douglas Fir Teaching Garden Interpretive Signage (2024)
The illustrations for this sign, which includes a selection of berries, ferns, and flowers that grow in Free the Fern's teaching garden, were created digitally. The sign was then printed by Free the Fern and installed by the carpenter Gordon Bednard.For more information on this installation at the Douglas Fir Teaching Garden, click here.
© Valentina Pagetto. All rights reserved.
Field Guides Exhibition (2024)
It was my pleasure to be invited by the Riley Park Community Garden to participate in this Vancouver Parks Board exhibit, which showcased the work of neighborhood houses and artist residency programs stationed across Vancouver's parks. My prior work with the David Suzuki foundation was displayed along with traditional knowledge about each plant, as well as information about Riley Park's work in decolonizing food systems.Click here for more information on the Field Guides exhibit, or here for more information on the VPB Fieldhouse program.
© Valentina Pagetto. All rights reserved.