Central to Liv Austin’s work is an interest in reclaiming heritage and identity by exploring themes of deconstruction, reconstruction and agency. Austin investigates the ways in which race, nationality, sexuality and gender overlap to dismantle and reject false and two-dimensional ideas of identity and history so often projected upon her.
Utilising embroidery, collage and drawing Austin brings together a variety of found materials and motifs to create a framework that delicately dismantles and rebuilds identity. Sculpture and drawings act in tandem to reflect and bring to life human and symbolic animal forms that are both reflective of the artist and suggestive of something else entirely.
Hundreds of confectionary wrappers are opened and glued together one-by-one to form a delicate connection from one torso binder to the other. Thousands of embroidery stitches are employed to reveal motifs that are themselves reflected in the drawings. This duality of fragility and gentle strength is fundamental to the work and represents the emotional, physical and mental labor that is expended when reconstructing personal identity.