Committed to redefining the parameters of abstraction, Jaudon has dedicated her entire career to work on its different aspects. Besides being associated with Pattern and Decoration and being an important representative of the Post-Minimalist movement, she experimented with a number of other practices such as Feminist Art, Process Painting, Idea Art etc.
In her paintings, Valerie Jaudon experiments with rhythmic, systemic variations of crisscrossing and intertwining lines creating geometrical patterns. These overlapping motifs result in complex images that take the form of mandalas or visual puzzles difficult to decipher. But if you take your time to contemplate these puzzles, the lines slowly dissolve into ordered symmetry, which is further enhanced by the fact that unlike other Pattern and Decoration artists Jaudon uses a rigorously limited palette of colours which leads to pure, geometry-focused almost monochrome works.
Artist’s all-over decorative motifs are designed to lack hierarchy. This socially engaged rejection of hierarchy is in line with her feminist approach and her disagreement with the hegemony of the white male artist.
Valerie Jaudon has been inspired by Eastern cultures: besides studying in London she also took a course in Mexico and travelled extensively not only across Europe, but also to Morocco. Decorative elements in her paintings bring to mind Gothic and Roman arches, or other architectural forms borrowed from Christian culture as well as Islamic ornamentation.
Jan Elantkowski