LIV is a self-taught raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Through her paintings, she confronts the social expectations placed on Black individuals to embody constant strength and resilience, while revealing the vulnerability that exists beneath the surface. She reimagines Black strength as colorful, bold, and unapologetically loud.
Her practice is rooted in grief, not only as loss, but as a living, shifting presence. LIV explores grief within people, within love, within physical spaces, and within America itself. For her, grief is not singular or fixed; it moves, transforms, and exists in any color at any time.
Working primarily in acrylic, LIV incorporates oil paint, chalk, and oil pastel to build layered, textured portraiture. These surfaces mirror the emotional complexity of her subjects. Distortion becomes a visual language, tears, multiple eyes, ears, and noses appear throughout her work, reflecting fragmentation, perception, and emotional multiplicity. Her exploration of duality is further expressed through the contrast of childlike facial features and realistic body forms.
LIV creates in spaces of mourning, where love and grief coexist. Her work reflects a continuous cycle of falling apart and rebuilding, holding both exhaustion and triumph as essential to Black life. She is currently an Artist-in-Residence at Cre8tv House in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she is deepening her practice in grief—expanding how it can be held, expressed, and transformed through color, material, and form.
LIV has exhibited widely, including a solo exhibition at No Studios (Milwaukee, WI, 2022). Her work has also been shown at The Other Art Fair (Chicago, IL, 2023), the 50th Anniversary Willis Tower exhibition A Chicago Story (2023), and the Milwaukee Medical College Bronzeville Tribute (2024). Her work is held in the collection of La Gente Art Gallery. If Snowbanks Were Mountains: An Exploration of Grief. (Milwaukee, WI 2026)
Accomplishments & Awards
Cre8tv House: MAKE ART Artist Award 2024
Carvd n Stone: Positive Creative Impact Award 2025