Ludi Leiva (b. Toronto, 1990) is a visual artist of Guatemalan and Slovak heritage working between Stockholm and London. Her practice is a contemplative dialogue between landscape, body, and memory.
In 2023, Ludi began a dedicated shift from her established illustration career, in order to cultivate her fine art practice. Her emerging body of work marks a significant evolution in her artistic development.
Working across drawing, painting, and printmaking, with a particular focus on monotype printing, Ludi creates dreamlike realms where the observed world meshes with remembered experience. Shaped by her mixed heritage, her work investigates connections between ancestral wisdom, place, and belonging.
Ludi still welcomes illustration and commercial collaborations through her studio, studio leilu.
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CV
Select exhibitions
2025 / Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair, London, UK (upcoming: 11.25)
2025 / Works on Paper 7, Blue Shop Gallery, London, UK (on view)
2025 / Hardly Soft, NE Sculpture Gallery Factory, Minneapolis, US
2024 / VITAL SIGNS: another world is possible, The Science Gallery, London, UK
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 (Organized by NY Latin American Art Triennial), New York City, US
2023 / HOY, National Museum of Somalia, Mogadishu, SO
2023 / Vårutställning (MFA graduation 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
Select grants, awards & recognition
2025 / Studio grant, City of Stockholm
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 (Young Swedish Art & Design Award)
2023 / Exhibition grant, The National Association of Swedish Art Societies
2023 / Graduate student award, Konstfacks Foundation
2023 / Project grant, Beata Brummers Foundation
2023 / Project grant, Ulla Fröberg-Cramérs Foundation
2020 / Artist grant, Choose Democracy
2018 / Illustrator in Residence, The Other Art Fair: Brooklyn
2018 / Fellow in Fiction (Writing resident), Lambda Literary Foundation
Education
2025-2026 / Drawing development year / The Royal Drawing School / London, UK
2021-2023 / MFA, Visual Communication / Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts & Design / Stockholm, Sweden
2018 / Continuing studies, Illustration / Pratt Institute / Brooklyn, NY, USA
2008-2013 / BA, Political science & gender studies / University of British Columbia / Vancouver, BC, Canada
Artist talks
2024 / Artist talk, Hem, Sunday Sessions (Stockholm, SE)
2023 / Artist talk, A Home is a Portal, Östberga Kulturhus (Stockholm, SE)
2023 / Artist talk, A Home is a Portal, Körsbärsgården Konsthall (Burgsvik, SE)
2019 / Artist Talk, Roxy Times Square (New York City, US)
Select press
2024 / “Featured Artist: Ludi Leiva” Artists Responding To... Quarterly Magazine, edited by Polly Bates
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
Memberships
The Artists' Association of Sweden (KRO)
Swedish Artists' Association (SKF)