In a world of technology and AI; the flow of art is a welcomed reprieve. Plus cats.

In this latest body of work, Vanessa Stockard continues to explore the intersection of the domestic and the surreal—spaces where memory, emotion, and imagination coexist beneath a rococo surface. These rooms, rich with velvet curtains, gilded frames, and plush chairs, are haunted not only by the looming silhouette of a familiar black cat, but by the tension between beauty and unease, comfort and distortion. The theatricality of the settings reflects a desire to stage the subconscious—each painting is a diorama of feelings rendered plush and strange. Figures like Kevin the Kittin, often hidden or central, act as guardians or intruders within these dreamscapes, drawing attention to the absurdity and fragility of the curated environments we inhabit. Using playful scale, sugary color palettes, and classical interiors as a foil, Vanessa aims to disrupt nostalgia with quiet menace. These works invite viewers to peer into staged serenity and find the shadows twitching beneath.