Livia Papiernik is a Franco-British visual storyteller pushing the boundaries of how we view textiles in contemporary art. As a mixed-media artist, she uses painting, patchwork, and embroidery to create work that instigates wonder and awe. 

Livia’s work explores social, political, and personal issues with humor and colour. These topics, which are often hard to discuss, are made more accessible through her dream-like depictions of a parallel universe. She often confronts her personal insecurities by re-narrating her everyday life, the objects around her, and her home. Through her work, she creates portals to new realities, enabling a sense of escapism for herself and her audience. The juxtaposition of beauty and tragedy is a theme that is apparent throughout her work. Mythology and folklore inspire her narratives and the way in which she encompasses surrealism and fantasy in her textile artworks. 

 Livia recently graduated from the MA Textile course at the Royal College of Art. Prior to her MA, she studied traditional hand Embroidery at the Royal School of Needlework. It is there that Livia mastered the craft of embroidery and connected to its strong historical link to storytelling and female empowerment.