Vanessa Murray is a multidisciplinary artist based in California’s Inland Empire, working across digital illustration, painting, mixed media, and installation. Finding inspiration through 70s psychedelic, Chicane/Indigenous, & Polynesian designs, her artwork cross-examines historical stylistics with contemporary mixed media to create experimental works, bridging past wisdom with present-day perspective. Vanessa’s practice exercises experiential learning, curiosity and creative intuition by exploring foundational ideas of color theory, cultural design and visual symbolism to develop a deeper understanding on how our creative drive is an impactful tool that is unique to our humanity.

“Creativity is a key component to our humanity and well-being. As humans, art is a reflection on our social-emotional experiences of the world. Art can often times reveal what is happening in that current moment — whether it be thoughts, expressions, ideas, reactions. Experimenting with material, color, and patterns reveals a personal story that often times words cannot express. Art is deeply rooted in who we are, what we experience, and the stories we share with others.”

Currently, I am working to build a local non-profit arts organization, The Creative Club ✦ Inland Empire. The C.C.I.E. is a newly established arts organization looking to bring affordable art workshops and skill-shares to various cities throughout the Inland Empire. The goal is to bridge local spaces with art making to help build community, teach crafting history, encourage creative collaboration, and help people access the arts in a meaningful way. With each workshop, we want people to walk away from each workshop with a sense of connection and newfound appreciation for art.