Through the creative lens of Victoria Hohlt, the world is not simply black and white, and neither are her paintings. As a young Texas native, Hohlt studied art history, visual anthropology and global studies at the University of Texas, where she quickly realized what was shaping the world and how stories were told. “Before words, there were pictures,” she said. Her studies led her into a research-driven approach when it comes to painting. From motifs in cave painting, to classical figurations, to modern abstract expressionism, she creates works of art that carry on a historical conversation between artists from the stone age to modern day. 

About the Piece

Blue Vase began as a simple still life—a vase arranged on a table to be studied and painted. But as the days passed, the flowers wilted and shifted, and I found myself painting from memory rather than observation. The image became softer, blurred, and filled with the feeling of what once was.

I think that’s how we experience life, too: we hold onto memory, but only in fragments. The blur becomes the truth we carry. The beauty remains, even if the details fade.

For me, Blue Vase reflects how inherited memories shape the way we see the present, and how artists help shape the future by expanding what people believe is possible. My work blends fine art and contemporary abstraction to explore perception—what we notice, what we forget, and what remains suspended between memory and immediacy.