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ABOUT

“The art of Lia Chavez explores the elusive triggers and effects of creativity.”

—The Wall Street Journal

Through her multifaceted, performance-based practice, American artist Lia Chavez is known for crafting unforgettable encounters which explore the phenomenology of light, illumination, and their impact on our lives and inmost creative selves. In her rigorous pursuit of physical light’s connection to the inner creative spark, she has created art across a vast array of disciplines, influenced technology, and pioneered the science of human consciousness as art. In each of her artworks, she chooses the medium that best magnifies her subject. The scale of her work can vary from a simple photograph to a dynamic biofeedback environment enabled by trailblazing technology. Lia combines the ephemeral and physical and the ancient and futuristic in her meticulous distillation of how humans encounter the boundless essence of all things.

Her work with light and perception is hailed as “mesmerizing” (The New York Times), “incredibly profound” (Whitewall Magazine), and “stunning” (Artnet News).

Lia has been the subject of exhibitions in numerous major institutions and venues, including the Venice Biennale, the Istanbul Biennial, and the Tate. Alongside renowned neuroscientists at Goldsmiths College, she has made groundbreaking contributions to the neuroscience of creativity and visionary experience. She is the recipient of major commissions from the Armory Show and Art Production Fund and has lectured widely, including keynotes on her art at The Wall Street Journal Future of Everything Festival, the University of Oxford, and the Creative Time Summit. 

From the ancient history of botanical sciences and herbology to the frontiers of neuroscience, Lia’s life work is still guided by mystical visions of light she has experienced since she was a child.

 

As remarked upon by The Wall Street Journal, Lia’s work seeks to “help answer a question that has eluded researchers for decades: What does the creative spark look like in the brain?”

She holds a Master of Philosophy in Visual Art and a Master’s Degree in Photography from Goldsmiths College, University of London. Prior to Goldsmiths, Lia was a Fellow in Visual Cultures and Feminist Aesthetics at the University of Oxford.

 

Lia is the founder of Hildegaard, a luxury creative house dedicated to reverence for Nature’s example of commingling light, matter, and spirit.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2023 | Replenish, The List Visual Arts Center at MIT, Boston MA

2022 | Mirrormind, The Something Machine, Bellport, NY

2020 | Infinite Seed, Presented by Good To Know.FYI and Jessica Hodin Lévy at Bhumi Farms, East Hampton, New York

2018 | CAMPO ArtFest, Garzon, Uruguay

2017 | The Future of Art, The Wall Street Journal Future of Everything Festival, New York, NY

2017 | Inner Form, Commissioned by Isabella Rossellini, Mama Farm, Bellport, NY

2016 | Light Body, Commissioned by Isabella Rossellini, Mama Farm, Bellport, NY

2015 | Urban Encounters, Tate Britain, London, UK

2015 | The Octave of Visible Light: A Meditation Nightclub, Commissioned by Art Production Fund, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas

2015 | Inaugural Celebration, Grace Farms, New Canaan, CT

2015 | Creative Time Summit, The Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy

2014 | Tumult, House of the Nobleman, London, United Kingdom

2014 | Luminous Objects, Spring/Break Art Show, New York, NY

2014 | Light Fantastic, House of the Nobleman, London, United Kingdom

2014 | Carceri, Two Rams, New York, NY

2013 | The Armory Show Summer Celebration, Presented by The Armory Show, Sag Harbor, NY

2010 | Entwined, Savannah College of Art and Design, Atlanta, GA

2009 | Visual Deflections, Old Truman Brewery, London, United Kingdom

2009 | Hillman + Chavez, co-presented by The Armory Show and Affirmation Arts, Affirmation Arts, New York, NY

2007 | Shot and Go: A Vision of Today’s International Photography, co-presented by Light on San Servolo and the Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy

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