Margaret Murphy's paintings, videos, and collages address themes that have stayed with her since childhood; issues of class, consumerism, religion and gender representation as embodied by the objectified porcelain figurines that characterize much of her work.

After receiving a BS degree from Towson State University in Maryland summa cum laude in 1990, and a MFA in Painting from Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University in 1992, Murphy spent two years in Chicago teaching at DePaul University and Northeastern University.

She then settled in Jersey City, where she has lived for the past eighteen years. The city, which is in close proximity to the New York arts scene, is uncannily similar to the Baltimore of Murphy’s youth, with its working class vernacular, and population of eccentric characters. In Jersey City, Murphy is both rooted to her past, and unmoored from constraints, allowing her to best create meaningful work.

Murphy, whose work has been exhibited widely, was recently the recipient of numerous awards including fellowships and grants from the Pollock Krasner Foundation (2010); the Pat Hearn and Colin de Land Foundation (2010); the New Jersey State Arts Council (2008); the Brodsky Center for Innovative Editions, Rutgers University (2008); the Puffin Foundation (2006); and finally, two Geraldine R. Dodge Fellowships (2005, 2006), among many others.

Murphy has been an artist-in-residence at the MacDowell Colony (1993); the Aljira Center for Contemporary Art (2000); Newark Museum (2001); the Vermont Studio Center (2004, 2006); Virginia Center for Creative Arts (2005); Weir Farm Trust (2006); Cooper Union (Summer, 2006); Gallery Aferro (2008), and most recently, a project studio residency at PS 122 in Manhattan (2010). In 2010, Murphy was inducted into the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art: Feminist Art Base at the Brooklyn Museum.

Her work has been featured in The New York Times, New American Painting #63, The Star Ledger, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Jersey Journal, Elle Décor, and “State of the Art,” a PBS program featuring prominent New Jersey artists. It was also included in the catalog 100 Artists of the Mid-Atlantic published by Schiffer Publishing (2011).