Her narrative lies in the spiritual, esoteric and tempestuous contemporary history of South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. It is largely an exploration of how the body and spirit (both human and animal) integrate with the landscape over time.

Esotericism subscribes to the theory that a correspondence or connection exists between all parts of the invisible and visible cosmos, and that nature is a living entity owing to a divine life force.

Vanessa finds the Divine in nature; the spirit of those past, present and future in land and sea – the voices of the waves, the fury of the wind, the songs of the mountains, the scents of the gardens, the spirits in the trees…..