Meet Liz Levin | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Liz Levin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Liz, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
My mentor, artist photographer, Sharon Yaari told me, “If there is anything else you can do other than be an artist, do it.” I have often discussed this idea with my fellow artist friends. It’s not that we can’t do anything else, but we don’t feel fulfilled if we aren’t making art. Futhermore, making art isn’t enough. It needs to be a central part of my life. I was told by a Professor in undergraduate school that my life is my art. I see the two as inseparable.
When I was younger I thought I wanted to be a fashion designer, so I worked hard to make that happen and get into my dream school, Parsons. Once I began studying fashion, I realized that there was more that I wanted to express that I felt I couldn’t through clothing.
I have always felt my feelings deeply and the only outlet I have ever felt accurately conveys these feelings is through art. My work often deals with loss and grief. Therapy is great, but I have found creating art around my grief has provided me with more healing than anything else.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’d have to say the things that I’m the most proud of are probably some of are the hardest things that I have done. I flew to LA from Israel to get rid of my Mom’s storage unit five years after she died. I took the contents of that storage unit and I made art out of it. My mom had saved thousands of photos, legal paperwork, letters, art, and more. This is what remained after my brother and sister had already gotten rid of the majority of her belongings. Things like family photos, legal paperwork, personal letters and art are some of the most difficult things to discard after a loved one passes away. They are not only the memories of the person who passed away, but also a record of history, one’s family history and remnants of the various time periods the deceased had lived through. For those who are sentimental like myself, getting rid of these things feels like an impossible task. I felt that every document, object, or photo deserved to be looked at and considered. During Covid I was studying in my masters program. I used this time to go through every document I had saved as well as every single photograph and organize them chronologically.
Eventually I used photographs, some legal documents and personal letters from my Mom’s storage unit to create an 11 minute video titled, Public Storage. This piece is one of the things I am most proud of to date. To make this work I had to dig deep, which was quite an emotional taxing process. I retraced my own trauma to that of my mother’s and her mother’s. I had to revisit things that were incredibly uncomfortable. But I created a work that people were able to identify with. The video is beautiful and sad. This is all to say that I am proud of my ability to take hardships I have experienced and to turn them into something that brings me closer to others through my art. I have been honored to share my experimental short at the Jerusalem Film Festival, Pebbles Underground Film Festival, and at various art shows.
Recently, I have experienced huge changes, losing family members, a war, moving across the world, the former all occurring while I was pregnant, then giving birth and becoming a mother. I am excited to see how these things will eventually manifest in my art.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If my best friend was visiting me from Paris I would first pick her up from LAX. We would go immediately to the nearby In N Out, so she could experience the best fast food this country has to offer. I would later take her to Monty’s Good Burger to try the vegan (more compassionate) version of In N Out.

I live in Silverlake, so we would walk to and around the Silverlake reservoir. She would ask me to point out the dog park where I went on my first date with my husband, which I would absolutely do. I would likely drive her up and down streets with sickeningly steep hills like Baxter Street. We would wander the area to discover some of the various secret stairs throughout the neighborhood.

We would go to Griffith Park and hike up to the Griffith Observatory just in time for sunset.

On Thursday night I would take her to the wine tasting at Silverlake Wine.

Two or three of the days in the week we would spend in Joshua Tree. On the way to Joshua Tree we would stop at the Integratron in Landers, CA for a crystal bowl sound bath and to pick up some other worldly energy. In Joshua Tree we would take a tour at A-Z West, artist Andrea Zittel’s former residence, living artwork, and artist residency, which is now run by the arts organization, High Desert Test Sites. Of course, we would spend a day in the national park.
I may take my friend to Salvation Mountain. A bright, enthusiastic tribute to artist Leonard Knight’s love of Jesus.

I would make sure that when we were back in Los Angeles we would visit the local museums like The Broad, MOCA, LACMA, and the Hammer.

I would take a day to show my friend where I grew up on the way to Malibu. On the drive there we would stop by Follow Your Heart, market and cafe, one of the oldest vegetarian/vegan establishments in Los Angeles County. We would drive through Malibu Canyon to the county line. After seeing a bit of Malibu I would continue on PCH, ending in Santa Monica.

I would be remiss if I forgot to mention Donut Friend in Highland Park. Donut Friend makes the best vegan donuts, period. I know people who aren’t even vegan who also think their donuts are the best donuts, vegan or not. No trip would be complete to Los Angeles without seeing Venice Boardwalk in all it’s dingy, tie dyed, psychedelic sandy beauty.

It would be a very crunchy, vibey, Southern Californian trip.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’d like to dedicate this shoutout to my Mom, my husband, and my fellow artist friends.

Being an artist is tough, there is a lot of rejection, fraud syndrome and not feeling good enough. You need to surround yourself with people who support and encourage you to continue on your path when the going gets rough. This support began with my Mom. She supported me in moving far from home to study at Parsons the New School for Design in New York City. As I mentioned, I went there to study fashion, but I knew if fashion didn’t work out I would go into fine arts. Despite this being a seemingly less profitable field, my mom continued to rally behind me.

It is crucial to have a partner who supports your deepest desires. I remember when my husband and I went to the BrokeLA festival in DTLA in 2016. There was a girl there who was selling art prints and also drawing in chalk on the wall of a vacant industrial building. My now husband put me on his shoulders and helped me draw on the wall. He said he’d never seen me so happy and that he understood this is what I need to do.

“Find your group.” This is what my Professor Gilad Ratman told my classmates and I in our Master’s Program. I cannot emphasize this point enough. When I was making art after I graduated from Parsons, it was difficult because I was creating mostly alone. When I went to Bezalel Academy of Art in Israel for my Masters in Fine Arts in 2019, I finally found my group.
Being surrounded by other artists helps fuel me. You encourage one another when the other is low, you energize each other by discussing work and by seeing one another work. Creating an exhibition alone may feel painstaking, but with a friend it suddenly feels not only possible, but fun.

Website: https://www.ealevin.com

Instagram: ealevin__

Other: Trailer for Public Storage: https://youtu.be/56c9tH4CICI

Image Credits
Images by Elizabeth Levin and Daniel Hanoch