Study for a Double Portrait of Alstonia Kohle and Her Daughter Galena, 2025. Ink on two sheets of vellum, 4 x 6 in.

The double portrait of Alstonia and Galena has a diegetic version, a painting by postwar artist Vallerant that hangs in a secluded corner of Kohle Manor. While Alstonia died in an accident many starcycles before the start of The Vaster Conspiracy, her legacy of artistic patronage lives on, influencing Galena’s eventual involvement in Vaster’s art counterfeiting schemes.