Victoria Murphy was born and raised in the greater New Orleans area, steeped in the rich culture of the Big Easy. However, despite always calling the Crescent City home, she’s always felt a longing for the rural backwoods of Mississippi - a call to the wild that’s been ingrained in her for as long as she can remember.

This longing can be traced back to her early years when her family spent nearly every other weekend at their family farm, a 400-odd acre stretch of land with a single-wide trailer, a four-wheeler, and what seemed like an endless expanse of forest to explore. Time and purpose transformed the land over the years from wilderness to cow pastures to crop fields to tree farm, but its role as a natural safe haven remained constant. It continues to be an influential place in both her life and art.

Along with an appreciation for the outdoors, she grew up as a proverbial “horse girl.“ She spent her childhood drawing horse after horse, even pursuing equestrian sport as a pastime but also as a source of inspiration and reference. This fascination with the equine form continued as she reached high school and enrolled in her first formal art classes where she expanded her knowledge, desire, and subject matter. Her devotion to creating did not waver, so she decided to pursue art at University. She completed two years of studio art courses at Mississippi State University, where her skills were honed further.

Despite finding nothing but positives with her college level art, the doubts many aspiring artists experience began to weigh upon her. She was determined to make a stable life for herself and questioned whether or not a life in the arts was possible, let alone comfortable. Against the advice of her mentors, she opted to transfer to Louisiana State University and later graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in graphic design. This led to working as a designer in the local print industry for five years, during which she was diagnosed with a repetitive strain injury in her dominant hand. Feeling burnt out mentally and physically, she set graphic design aside and focused her efforts on recovery. During this time, she slowly rekindled her love of drawing and began to “shake the dust off” by returning to the passion that guided her path in the first place.

She now works from her home studio, creating life-like portraits and original artworks inspired by her upbringing in the South and her love of all things natural and wild. In her free time, she enjoys riding horses, playing video games, gardening, and spending time with her partner, their dog, and two cats.