Vallessa is a metalworker and Texas native. She first got her hands dirty at age 10 using an arc welder. Under the guidance of her godfather, a blacksmith farrier, she started making metal cowboys and assisting with his work. Vallessa later relocated to NYC and earned her MFA in sculpture from Pratt Institute. She then spent three years as an apprentice at the Johnson Atelier Technical Institute of Sculpture in Mercerville, NJ, where she honed her skills as a fabricator and sculptor, learning the lost-wax process, sand casting, and patina finishes. Metal oxidation, with its alchemic power of transformation, fascinates Vallessa and has become her specialty.