Zoe Thompson, On Vanessa Stockard     

Back in February, I was creating one of my final pieces for my 2-D AP art portfolio, and I was searching for inspiration. The watercolor painting in question was titled “Dreams”, and it featured me sleeping peacefully in my bed. The interesting thing about this work, however, is that the head opens up so you can see the dreams inside my head. I had finished the entire exterior painting, but I had no idea what to paint for my dream. I knew I wanted it to be eerie in subject and peaceful in color schemes, but that was all I had. My friends in the class and I talked for a while, bouncing ideas around until I thought of Botticelli’s Birth of Venus. The famous painting was perfect for what I wanted. It was beautiful, but the context around the subject of the painting related to men in an uncomfortable way, which was perfect for my sustained investigation. When I painted it, I changed Venus’s face to mine and the shell beneath her to an open palm, but I maintained the colors and atmosphere of the painting. By adding my own personal twist to the piece, I felt like I was able to communicate my innocent yet tainted perspective of the work, and it reminded me of an artist who did the same.

Vanessa Stockard, an Australian born artist, creates works in which a silly little cat wearing a formal ruff is regularly featured “K-Bombing” (as the artist likes to call it) famous paintings and pop culture moments. While scrolling through her art, I noticed that Stockard had coincidentally also painted her own version of Botticelli’s Birth of Venus. The painting lacked most of the background of the iconic painting, but nevertheless, you could tell where her inspiration came from. In Stockard’s typical fashion, Kevin, the name of the cat wearing the ruff, is featured watching Venus as she elegantly stands in her shell. Her wonderfully childlike memories of her past cats are made abundantly apparent in her works with Kevin. When writing an artist’s statement for one of her most recent exhibitions at the A.K. Bellinger Gallery, Stockard discussed her relationships with various cats and how she “clung onto, and stored away impressions [she] liked of their silliness, and ridiculous malice.” Not only is Kevin’s silly appearance inspired by her past experiences with cats, but also by “her two year old [now four] daughter and the joy she brings.” Ultimately, combining her two primary inspirations, Kevin is a culmination of wholesome innocence and personality that is bound to capture the attention of any viewer.

A few months after I painted my own Birth of Venus, one of my good friends suggested that we watch the 1999 cult classic, American Beauty. I was incredibly reluctant at first because of the film’s subject matter, but I decided that I would watch it for her, as it was one of her all time favorite movies. 40 minutes later, I was struggling to continue watching. The film was, quite frankly, disgusting, as it seemed to endorse the 40 something year old main character’s pursuit of a teenage girl. However, at that 40 minute mark, the film changed entirely. Suddenly everyone’s secrets were out in the open, and every single seemingly unimportant plotline started to converge at once, leading to the death of the main character. Though it is still difficult for me to support the main character and his morality, the movie was phenomenal. It revealed how beautifully chaotic and intricate the world around us truly is. 

When I found a Stockard painting of Kevin in a well known scene from American Beauty, I thought about how strange it was that Kevin seemed to be following my path of culture consumption. In this painting he is featured hidden among the American Beauty rose petals, almost as if he remained unknown to the subject of the painting, similarly to how one would watch a movie, unbeknownst to the characters on the screen. This connection made me reflect on my relationship to Kevin. Like me, Kevin was being exposed to these culture phenomenons with an innocent lens that is easily influenced by media consumption. His eyes or stance change in each painting, reflecting his developing opinions on the works he is featured in. For instance, in the American Beauty painting, his eyes seem sad, as if he was weighed down by the toxic facades maintained by the characters in the movie. As Vanessa Stockard’s biography featured at the bottom of her most recent exhibition puts it, “she infuses the personification of virtue and vice into the everyday canine and feline status quo of our pets.” In her works with Kevin, Stockard somehow makes a few yellow brushstrokes that resemble the cute, introspective eyes of a cat, something tangible to relate to, which is a skill that any artist should be proud to display. 

Stockard, Vanessa. “Vanessa Stockard Kaleidoscope Exhibition.” Akbellingergallery, AK Bellinger Gallery, 2021, www.akbellingergallery.com/vanessastockard-kaleidoscope. 

“Vanessa Stockard.” JEFA Gallery, www.jefagallery.com/artists/vanessa-stockard/. 

Image 1: “Vanessa Stockard, 2019, K Bombs Botticelli.” Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/p/B4OIACeFXa2/          

Image 2: “Vanessa Stockard, 2021, K Bombs American Beauty.” Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ2ph2Fgf9t/