Collection: VANESSA ANDERSON

My paintings are primarily inspired by my personal history and concepts of human suffering, transformation and healing. 
They celebrate the dark and light in life and are, for the most part, an exploration into the fragility, tragedy and hope of this journey of life we are all on.
Like a nursery rhyme or children’s fairy tale, they have a complex backstory; portrayed in a fresh and offbeat style.
A fun, quirky tapestry of symbolic images, be they landscape, buildings or creatures.

I strive to create with a unique, authentic voice drawn from my experiences growing up in South Africa and immigrating to Australia 20 years ago.
When I start a piece I never quite know what I want to say but then a visual conversation begins and it evolves into a fantastic dialogue of beauty, fragility, loss and hope. This gives me joy. When this unique conversation resonates with someone else, the viewer, I am truely grateful.

I am repeatedly drawn to landscapes, still lifes and creatures, and in particular, views of the Illawarra because this area provides me with a wonderfully colourful, metaphoric language and when used in an unusual context, creates a meaningful dialogue for the soul.

In 1999 I completed a Masters in Fine Art and then a number of years later a Diploma in Transpersonal Art Therapy.
It was during this second course of study that I witnessed the therapeutic value of art to heal and restore for the creator and viewer alike.
I believe our lives are peppered with endings and beginnings and, as difficult as some of these losses can be,
inevitably there is growth and a new beginning on the other side of suffering.

It is our capacity to heal ourselves, to create, to endure, to overcome and to transform that informs my work.
Trust the dark for it it will ultimately lead to the light. 

Vanessa Anderson Recently Sold Works