Lillian van Veen
(b. Seattle, 2003)
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Lillian van Veen (b. Seattle, 2003) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Brooklyn, NY. Van Veen’s practice spans painting, soft sculpture, and video, and explores the adornments and histories of the transmasculine body. Movement and clothing are presented as modes of accessing temporal identities and transformative realities. Van Veen’s work has been shown at Eye Filmmuseum, Amsterdam; The Tomayko Foundation, Pittsburgh; 440 Gallery, Brooklyn; and with Trans Art Fest. They hold a B.H.A. (Bachelor’s of Humanities and Arts) from Carnegie Mellon University, graduating in 2025.
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Lillian van Veen (b. Seattle, 2003)
Education
2021 - 2025 Carnegie Mellon University
Bachelor of Humanities and Arts
(University / College Honors, Phi Beta Kappa)
Exhibitions
2026 The Recipe - FLOHAUS Gallery, New York, NY
2026 Sweet Angel Baby Magazine Release Show - Tawny, New York, NY
2026 Pride in Community - Arts Gowanus, Brooklyn, NY
2026 at/tending, a/mednding - Coil & Cord, Brooklyn, NY
2026 Interview with Sydney - Kaboom Animation Festival, Amsterdam & Utrecht, NL (Screening)
2025 21st Annual Small Works Show - 440 Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2025 Textiles on Film (Interview with Sydney) - Millenium Film Workshop, Brooklyn, NY (Screening)
2025 Rapid Eye Movement - Tomayko Foundation, Pittsburgh, PA
2025 The Squeeze - The Frame Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
2025 The Clothes Make the Man (Solo) - The Frame Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
2025 Sketchbook Show - The Frame Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
2024 Re-Orientation - The Frame Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
2024 Sketchbook Show - The Frame Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
2023 Grand Re-Opening - The Frame Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
2023 Inner Sanctum - The Ellis Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
2023 Pilgrimage, Pilgrimage (Solo) - The Frame Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
2023 Dear Bountiful Gathering - WQED, Pittsburgh, PA
2023 Sketchbook Show - The Frame Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
2022 Effervescent Shadow Bazaar - WQED, Pittsburgh, PA
2019 Pre College Exhibition - NYU Commons Gallery, New York, NY
Awards / Grants / Fellowships
2025 Carnegie Mellon University Meeting of the Minds Award for Artistic Excellence
2025 Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry Small Grant
2025 BXA Small Grant
2024 BXA Small Grant
2022 BXA Small Grant
2022 Carnegie Mellon University School of Art Wilfred Readio Award
Publications
2026 Sweet Angel Baby Magazine, “Body Structure”, “Shoe System”
2026 Euphoria (Despite it all) Zine, “Body Structure”, “Threading the Needle”
2025 The Oakland Review Vol. LI, “Flagging Technique for the Confused / Versatile”
2025 Lemon Issue 03, “Yellow Jewelry”, “Finding the Crease”, “Quilt of the Nicest Shirt I Own Over Three Tracings of my Mother’s Wedding Dress”
2024 Lemon Issue 02, “A Body That Comes Furnished”, “Unmachine Unwashable”
2023 Spires Volume XXVIII Issue II, “Cut From the Same Cloth”
Interviews / Press / Media
2025 Carnegie Mellon University Senior Spotlight Series, Senior Spotlight 2025: Lillian van Veen
2025 Brett Park for ArtTok Collective, Artists on TikTok React to the TikTok Ban
2023 Middy Vella for Lemon Issue 01, Inside the Frame
2021 Voices Heard SF Artist Speaker
Curatorial Projects
2025 Sketchbook Show - The Frame Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
2024 Re-Orientation - The Frame Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
2024 Sketchbook Show - The Frame Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
2023 Grand Re-Opening - The Frame Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
2023 Sketchbook Show - The Frame Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
Harmonizing, 2026
Oil on canvas
7 × 7 in | 17.8 × 17.8 cm
My Forever Sunburn, 2025
Oil on canvas
38 × 28 in | 96.5 × 71.1 cm
Ball Dropping/ Two Yo-Yos with Invisible String, 2026
Oil on canvas
7 × 6 in | 17.8 × 15.2 cm
Mars-Side, 2026
Oil on canvas
14 × 19 in | 35.6 × 48.3 cm
Getting Dressed, 2025
Oil on canvas
30 × 19 in | 76.2 × 48.3 cm
Threading the Needle, 2026
Oil on canvas
10 × 8 in | 25.4 × 20.3 cm
Craters, 2026
Oil on canvas
11 × 14 in | 27.9 × 35.6 cm
Airtime, 2026
Oil on canvas
8 × 11 in | 20.3 × 27.9 cm
Volcano Painting 2, 2026
Oil on canvas
12 × 16 in | 30.5 × 40.6 cm