from wild west to wonderland
Growing up on a farm in the wild heart of the West, I developed a cowgirl’s thirst for adventure that eventually propelled me across the country in pursuit of the unknown. I spent the next 12 years deep in the underground art scenes of Toronto and Montréal, chasing the rush of unfamiliar experiences and filling my sketchbooks with field notes as I met fascinating characters and explored increasingly obscure corners of reality.
Immersed in the heady intrigue of surrealist cabarets, avant-garde circus troupes, bohemian salons, moonlit fire jams, mysterious covens, offbeat communes, and radical DIY collectives, my art became a reflection of my elaborately bizarre life and my style evolved into a playful fusion of 70s alternative comix, witchy esoterica, and trippy desert psychedelia.
These days I’m based in the beautiful Okanagan Valley, where I’m focused on exploring creative ways to best capture the magic of those past experiences in my work.
What else? I love coffee, costumes, and immersive installation art. I’m obsessed with train travel, I can’t stop talking to strangers, and I live in a perpetual state of giddy excitement for Halloween.
Connect
Drop me a line at arcana@vanessa-arcana.com if you’d like to get in touch! ❤︎