Ludi Leiva

Ludi Leiva (b. 1990, Canada) is a visual artist with roots in Guatemala and Slovakia. After years working in writing and illustration, Ludi is currently focused on expanding her drawing and painting practices. Her primarily abstract figurative paintings and works on paper intertwine the real with the ethereal, constructing dreamlike atmospheres inviting contemplation of place, ritual, identity, and the in-between. She lives and works between Stockholm and Los Angeles.

Ludi received an MFA from Konstfack University in Stockholm in 2023. She has been awarded grants from the Swedish Arts Grants Committee, Konstfacks Foundation, and the City of Stockholm, among others, and exhibited her work internationally, including in London, Berlin, New York City, and Chicago.

Contact

 Instagram: @ludileiva
Email: ludi[at]ludileiva.com

Exhibitions

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, Östberga Kulturhus, Stockholm, SE (solo)
2023 / Lugares, PTM Contemporary & NY Latin American Art Triennial, New York, US
2023 / HOY, National Museum of Somalia, Mogadishu, SO
2023 / A Home is a Portal, Körsbärsgården Konsthall, Burgsvik, SE (solo)
2023 / Konstfack Spring Exhibition, Konstfack University, Stockholm, SE
2023 / Experiments in Print, Candyland, Stockholm, SE
2021 / New Latin Wave Festival, New York, US (virtual)
2020 / DULA: Tastes Like Home, TIER, Berlin, DE
2020 / Art On Link, LinkNYC, New York, US
2019 / Hecho Con Galaxy, Times Square & One World Trade Center, New York, US
2019 / Cluster Illustration Fair, The Truman Brewery, London, UK

Grants & awards

2024 / One year working grant, The Swedish Authors' Fund
2024 / Longlisted, World Illustration Awards
2024 / One year working grant, The Swedish Arts Grants Committee
2024 / Studio grant, City of Stockholm
2023 / Shortlisted, Ung Svensk Form (Swedish Design Award)
2023 / Exhibition grant, The National Association of Swedish Art Societies
2023 / Grant, Konstfacks Foundation
2023 / Project grant, Beata Brummers Foundation
2023 / Project grant, Ulla Fröberg-Cramérs Foundation
2020 / Grant, Choose Democracy

Residencies & additional achievements

2022 / Jury, Young Guns 20, The One Club for Creativity
2018 / Illustrator in Residence, The Other Art Fair: Brooklyn
2018 / Fellow in Fiction (residency), Lambda Literary Foundation

Projects, workshops & teaching

 2023 / A Home is a Portal (creator) / exhibited in full or part at: Körsbärsgården Konsthall (SE), National Museum of Somalia (SO), PTM Contemporary (US), The Arts Society (ES), Women Made Gallery (US), Östberga Kulturhus (SE) and Konstfack University (SE). Recipient of grants from: The Swedish Authors’ Fund, The National Association of Swedish Art Societies, Beata Brummers Foundation, Ulla Fröberg-Cramérs Foundation, and Konstfacks Foundation and shortlisted for Ung Svensk Form (Swedish Design Award)

2020 / Miraculous Futures (co-creator/presenter) / presented at Fontys Academy of the Arts (2020) and Nederlands Film Festival (2019)

2017 / Neurospeculative Afrofeminism (contributing artist) / premiered at Sundance International Film Festival and also shown at SXSW, Tribeca Film Fest (Jury Honorable Mention), Gray Area Art & Technology Festival, Primer Speculative Futures Conference, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and New Inc: Versions Festival, among others

Select press, interviews & mentions

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