Vanessa VanAlstyne

Biography

Vanessa VanAlstyne is an artist living in the Louisville KY area, but was born in West Texas. Zeir work examines biology, psychedelic art, biomorphic surrealism, death, and medical history. Zey has a BA from the University of Texas at Dallas (2007) and an MFA from the University of Houston (2010). Zeir current body of work has been influenced by her ownership of Las Vegas Oddities, a store focusing on the unusual, rare, and macabre (2017-2020.) Zey lives with zeir husband and various pets.

Artistic Statement

We are all the children of history. Art reflects the time and

culture of its creation.

I exist in a world between worlds, and in my shadow, I draw together the

landscapes, places, biological organisms, and strange myths that make my

life is grotesque and beautiful.

I owned an oddities store in Las Vegas. After

It fell apart, and I found myself in a visceral and banal world, which inspired dreams of something sublime, alien, and inhuman yet comforting because it is also physical. I paint and draw

these meat babies and broken things because I see flesh as a universal horror we are all trapped in. I worship at the altar of the medical

illustration, Frances Bacon, and my new crone reality. When I am done, I hope to transcend this

space and become the great and horrible things I dream of. The terrible thing, inexcusably truthful, and floating in a world free from pain.

Vanessa can be reached on Instagram @VanVanAlstyne

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