Direct Observation
While some artists observe their subjects from a distance, painter Erika Victor prefers a more immersive approach. For her Western-themed oil paintings, she finds inspiration by shadowing workers, riding alongside cattle ranchers and experiencing their world firsthand.
“The best way to understand my subjects is to be there, with a camera, not a lasso,” she says. “I ride with the cattle hands and try to get into the mindset of the scene I want to paint.”
Her on-the-job observational studies began with a show organized through the Cowgirl Artists of America that partnered her with a ranch. That experience led to her current focus: cattle women. “I don’t see them represented in many Western galleries. It’s always cowboys,” she says. “I wanted to show the reality I see when I visit these ranches. Half the people working there are women—but I rarely see them in paintings.”
Getting this hands-on view forever changed the way she approaches painting. Victor explains, “Take landscapes, for instance. I like to go out and camp and find myself in the painting. I like to see things first thing in the morning when you wake up to really capture what I’m seeing.”
Originally from western Kansas, Victor lived briefly in New York City. She now makes her home in Zuni, New Mexico, and works as an art teacher. She notes, “I found that in NYC, I really missed the landscapes all around me. I missed the openness of living in a more rural place.”
Interested in the aesthetic of digital art, she channels a similar intensity in her work through her vivid, high-contrast palette. She says, “I love exaggeration. I don’t want things to look exactly how you would see it in real life, because then I feel like what’s the point of painting it?”
For Victor, it all comes back to the New Mexico landscape surrounding her. “It can feel otherworldly. Everywhere I look is interesting.” —Doreen Manning
contact informationerikavictor.com
upcoming showCowgirl Artists of America: Women’s Work, August 1-2, A.R. Mitchell Museum of Western Art, Trinidad, CO.
This story appeared in the August/September 2025 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Subscribe today to read every issue in its entirety.
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