Info
Through combined media and intuitive mark-making, her work explores themes of place, spirituality, and diasporic identity. She has been awarded grants from Konstnärsnämnden, the City of Stockholm, and the Swedish Writers' Fund, among others. In addition to her studio practice, she is currently finalizing her first book, A Home is a Portal, a continuation of her Master's project exploring definitions of home.
Ludi’s work has been shown internationally in both solo and group exhibitions. She lives and works between Stockholm and Los Angeles.
CV
Education
2025 / Post-graduate course (Drawing Development Year) / Royal Drawing School / London, UK (upcoming)
2023 / MFA / Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts & Design / Stockholm, Sweden
2018 / Continuing studies / Pratt Institute / Brooklyn, NY, USA
2013 / BA / University of British Columbia / Vancouver, BC, Canada
Select exhibitions
2024 / VITAL SIGNS: another world is possible, The Science Gallery, London, UK (upcoming)
2024 / The Collective II, Visionary Projects, New York City, US
2024 / Mine, Yours, Ours, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, US
2024 / Transcending Time, The Arts Society, Nerja, ES
2023 / Kairos, Samsen Atelier, Stockholm, SE (solo)
2023 / A Home is a Portal, Körsbärsgården Konsthall, Burgsvik, SE (solo)
2023 / Lugares, PTM Contemporary (NY Latin American Art Triennial), New York, US
2023 / HOY, National Museum of Somalia, Mogadishu, SO
2023 / MFA Thesis Exhibition, Konstfack University, Stockholm, SE
2023 / Experiments in Print, Candyland, Stockholm, SE
2020 / DULA: Tastes Like Home, TIER, Berlin, DE
2019 / Cluster Illustration Fair, The Truman Brewery, London, UK
Grants, residencies & other achievements
2024 / One year working grant, The Swedish Writers' Fund
2024 / Longlisted, World Illustration Awards
2024 / Shortlisted, Villa Lena Foundation Residency
2024 / One year working grant, The Swedish Arts Grants Committee
2024 / Studio grant, City of Stockholm
2023 / Shortlisted, Ung Svensk Form (Swedish Art & Design Award)
2023 / Exhibition grant, The National Association of Swedish Art Societies
2023 / Award, Konstfacks Foundation
2023 / Project grant, Beata Brummers Foundation
2023 / Project grant, Ulla Fröberg-Cramérs Foundation
2022 / Jury, Young Guns 20, The One Club for Creativity
2020 / Grant, Choose Democracy
2018 / Illustrator in Residence, The Other Art Fair: Brooklyn
2018 / Fellow in Fiction (residency), Lambda Literary Foundation
Select press
2024 / “Ludi Leiva’s A Home is a Portal” The One Club for Creativity, written by Alixandra Rutnik
2023 / “Signs from the Underground, Home Invasion and Textile Bliss” C-Print Journal, written by Ashik & Koshik Zaman
2020 / "How Can Illustration Be Used as an Effective Tool for Activism?" Elephant Magazine, written by Ayla Angelos
Artist statement
I approach my work as a spiritual act, a way to transmute my subconscious into physical form. My work intertwines the real with the ethereal, creating dreamlike realms through themes of place, ritual, identity, and the in-between. Working in combined media, I primarily use acrylic and oil paint, oil pastel, oil bar, charcoal, and pencil, as well as monotype techniques to build layered textures. Intuitive mark-making allows me to translate internal states, memories, and dreams, blending abstraction and figuration to explore nostalgia, liminal space, and diasporic identity. Drawing further inspiration from ecology and metaphysics, my work reifies the tension between inner and outer worlds while reconceptualizing my intercultural identity, ancestral knowledge, connection to place, and sense of self.