Hari Hockey was born and raised in New York City. She found her calling as an artist in high school, working as an art editor for the senior year book. Hockey was awarded two scholarships for school. One for the Parsons School of Design and the other to the Brooklyn Museum Art School. She also attended the University of Alburquerque in New Mexico. She worked as a commercial aritist in New York for five years and then turned her attention towards the fine arts. During this time she traveled throughout the U.S. and Mexico extensively seeking inspiration for her works.