Lia Chavez

The art of New York-based Lia Chavez draws upon her fascination with the laws of the physical universe and investigates the astonishing mysteries of light, form, and the interior cosmos. Her multifaceted artistic vocabulary embraces performance, photographic processes, painting, sculpture, installation and scientific, technological, and theoretical innovations. Her work is an invitation into the vast inner landscape of beauty, forming a detailed, rigorous exploration of mental meteorology, the phenomenology of light, and the emergent possibilities of working with human consciousness as an art material. To this end, she has crafted critically-acclaimed immersive environments and performances which fuse art, science, technology, and contemplative practice. By presenting visions of the radiant cosmos within, the artist provides us with a reminder that our relationship to the world — both outside and within — is shaped by the dynamics of time, space and light.

Lia Chavez received her MA in Photography and Master of Philosophy in Visual Art from Goldsmiths, University of London. She has been a Fellow in Gender Theory and Visual Cultures at Oxford University and lectured widely on her artwork. She has been featured at many international venues, including the Venice Biennale, the Istanbul Biennial, Tate, Creative Time, and the Armory Show. She was recently Art Production Fund’s artist-in-residence (2015). Recent solo exhibitions and performances include The Octave of Visible Light: A Meditation Nightclub (2015) presented in partnership with Art Production Fund at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas; Carceri (2014) at Two Rams, New York; Tumult performance (2014) presented at Light Fantastic by House of the Nobleman, London; and Luminous Objects, exhibited at SPRING/BREAK Art Show (2014) and commissioned and presented by the Armory Show (2013). Chavez’s work has been featured in numerous media outlets, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the BBC, Fast Company, and PSFK, among others. She was recently named one of Origin Magazine's Top 100 Creatives (2015). A passionate collaborator, she has invented revolutionary brain-imaging technologies for her performances alongside creative technology company rehabstudio, and she is a visiting artist-researcher at Goldsmiths, University of London where she helps develop the emerging neuroscience of creativity with a team of world-class cognitive neuroscientists. Her monograph, Lia Chavez: A Thousand Rainbows, was recently released by Damiani.