Michelle Victoria
Los Angeles/Santa Fe
I am a self-taught artist discovering if art really can change the world
Message
Artist Bio
Michelle Victoria is a Los Angeles–born artist whose work bridges abstraction, political activism, consciousness, and a deep commitment to beauty as a transformative force.
She studied political science at UCLA, an early indication of her lifelong engagement with social and global issues. Her path to becoming an artist was nontraditional. After college she worked in Los Angeles and later owned an organic café in Sedona, Arizona, where she supported and showed the work of other artists. She subsequently lived in Germany, founding and operating a holistic center before returning to the United States and settling in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
At the time, she was deeply engaged in a project on sustainable living—an inquiry that continues to inform her artistic philosophy. For Michelle, sustainability extends beyond environmental practice; it includes the sustainability of our actions, our systems, and our emotional lives. Art became both refuge and reckoning. What began as an urgent need to express political frustration quickly evolved into imagery based on the spiritual and contemplative, reflecting her belief in the necessity of inner awareness alongside outward activism.
A pivotal moment came when she watched the documentary Gerhard Richter Painting. Having returned to the United States less than four years earlier after living in Germany, she felt an immediate and unexpected recognition. By the end of the film, her path had shifted. Since then, abstraction has become central to her practice, alongside mixed media and photography.
After several productive early years, her practice became intermittent as she navigated chronic health challenges while also serving as a dedicated health advocate for her mother, continuing her studio practice throughout this period. These experiences have deepened her commitment to compassion, resilience, and connection — qualities that inform her work and are influenced by her Buddhist practice, viewing life’s obstacles as catalysts for inner growth, and the process of making art as integral to that evolution.
Her art moves between aesthetic beauty and social awareness, grounded in the belief that beauty — whether encountered in nature, art, or human interaction — is essential to our shared humanity. In tumultuous times, she seeks to create work that invites reflection, fosters kindness and generosity, and encourages meaningful connection within ourselves and between one another.
Today, calling herself an artist and standing before the canvas still carries the quiet thrill of a dream realized. Michelle Victoria divides her time between Los Angeles and Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Statement
I have always yearned for an artistic life, yet for most of my life I moved in other directions. In my mid-twenties, on my first visit to New York, I fell in love with SoHo and imagined becoming an artist. At the time, I believed I could not be one since I had never been taught to draw or paint and carried the mistaken assumption that artists were simply born with talent. I began making art much later in life, fulfilling this lifelong desire.
Making art is both a way to express myself and a way to share myself. I continue to seek better forms of communication through the visual language. What does the visual form offer? How can we connect with one another in a way that brings meaning to both of us — and transform us individually and collectively?
My earliest work was mixed media and emerged from political frustration. I have organized, marched, and protested in the streets for decades, and I remain convinced that political art is crucial in this historical moment. So much is at stake. Art allows us to expose truth, inspire courage, and create new forms of communication when words alone feel insufficient. It is, for me, another form of protest. I believe sustainability extends beyond environmental practice; it is about the sustainability of our actions, our systems, and our inner lives.
Rather quickly, my work shifted toward the ethereal and spiritual. After seeing the documentary Gerhard Richter Painting, I began painting the very next day. That film changed my life, shifted my direction and clarified what painting could hold. I am drawn to beauty and color, and I experience the act of painting as a journey to inner harmony — something that is then expressed on canvas, wood, or whatever material is available.
My work moves between what may appear as opposites but are, to me, inseparable: the divine and the political, beauty and disruption, the ethereal and the urgent. I am drawn to the sacred — while also compelled to respond to what I see unfolding globally: the disregard for our planet, for justice, and for human life. Painting has become another form of engagement — one that seeks not only to expose truth, but also to cultivate qualities I hold dear: kindness, generosity, compassion, and connection. These values, deeply influenced by my Buddhist practice, feel increasingly urgent in our fractured and consumer-driven world. The beauty and horror of life exist side by side. It is our responsibility to keep both our eyes and our hearts open.
I move between contemporary abstraction and political work, often incorporating mixed media and my own photography. Taking the path less traveled has brought diversity to my work and depth to my perspective. Extensive travel and a life lived outside traditional lines have been an essential part of my preparation as an artist.
I believe beauty is not separate from justice. What is the meaning of our lives without beauty — and without the challenge to view, explore, and transform the world around us? I aspire to create work that offers pleasing aesthetics while provoking thought and reflection, inviting care and connection, and awakening the recognition of beauty within ourselves.
If my art can help facilitate transformation and connection — within ourselves and between us — then it is doing its work.
Art, for me, is a second chance — and an ongoing act of courage.