Meet ORLUarts (Liv Losee-Unger) | Muralist

We had the good fortune of connecting with ORLUarts (Liv Losee-Unger) and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi ORLUarts, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
When I was in art school, I despaired about my choice to become an artist. Growing up following the 2008 recession and coming into a world where systemic inequality and climate change all but ensures that my generation won’t have the life our parents did, I felt like I was making a selfish, crazy decision to chase painting as a career. When I discovered public art, my mindset completely changed. Public art offers a broader community access to art by removing the work from galleries and museums and placing them in public, at eye-level, available to everyone. Street art is an ever-changing community conversation, and being part of that conversation made me feel like my art was in service of something so much more important than just my voice.
After working as a lead assistant for a few years in Philadelphia, I felt called to come back to my home in the Bay Area to create artwork in collaboration with my childhood community. Every second since has been a wonderful, incredible experience.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
There are two major themes to my artwork that I explore: community and nature. I became a muralist because I felt it was the best way to create artwork in service of people. I felt alienated by the closed circle of galleries and museums, and felt that artwork that belonged to a community was the most beautiful expression of painting I could achieve. I have always been obsessed with animals, especially the marine life off the Pacific Coast, and much of my personal work revolves around sea creatures and strange animals that are not often painted. My Sphynx mural is a great example of this. It definitely has been a difficult journey–my mom has always said that being an artist is like walking around with no skin on. You’re sharing your heart with others, and it can be a challenge to put yourself out there. That’s why creating murals that focus on community and nature can be so rewarding: you’re expressing love for the world you reside in, and beautifying it in the process. Taking time to really experience a place you’re painting in creates these incredible, life changing artistic adventures.
I suppose the main lesson I’ve learned is to never stop. Even in moments when you don’t know what the next project is, the most important aspect of being a public artist is to persevere. Sending good energy out into the world through my artwork often reflects good energy back onto me, and those experiences lead to more projects. The cycle is a beautiful, chaotic mess, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I currently live in Oakland, but I grew up in San Francisco, so that’s where the majority of my knowledge lies. My favorite spot growing up is Musee Mechanique in San Francisco. It’s an arcade made up entirely of 1910-1950’s games. It’s situated on the beautiful Fisherman’s Wharf, so I always make sure to visit the sea lions when I go! When it comes to food, there’s no place like Chino’s Taqueria in the Outer Richmond. I’ve been going there since I was four, and the gentlemen who own it still remember me! I highly recommend their spicy chicken for your burrito or taco. There’s no better.
Lastly, Monterey Bay Aquarium. It’s not in the city, but two hours south of SF in beautiful Monterey. Monterey Bay Aquarium helped shape me as an artist–I’d spend hours there sketching and writing down the scientific names of all the unique and incredible creatures there. The aquarium is also on the forefront of research and conservation on the west coast–their MBARI project consistently discovers new and incredible creatures at great depths just a couple miles out into Monterey Bay. If you’re looking for a day trip, it’s my favorite spot in all of California.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to shout out my family. When the pandemic began, I was living in Philly and working as a lead assistant to an incredible muralist. As Americans came to grips with the breathtaking death toll, my need to be home with my family became my top priority. I decided to begin my own mural company, ORLUarts, in my home of the Bay Area. Without my family providing a safe landing and then a runway to launch, I wouldn’t be able to be creating art full-time today. They have supported and encouraged me since I was small to follow whatever dreams I had, regardless of the difficulties or the likelihood that I would fail. Their constant support since day one has empowered me to become an artist, to take risks, and to get back up when I fall. I couldn’t thank them enough.

Website: www.orluarts.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/orluarts/?hl=en