About Lilia Munn
Lilia is a Ukrainian-American visual artist, entrepreneur, and innovator who has pioneered a new form of artistic expression using proprietary vision-tracking software. She elevates the abstract expressionism movement by painting with her eyes. Instead of using a paintbrush, she subverts the process of hand-eye coordination, pushing pixels around in a more immediate and intimate way. Lilia then translates her work from the digital realm into wearable collections that bring her art into everyday life. Working alongside a team, Lilia carefully designs each piece-selecting materials, prints, shapes, and patterns-to ensure her artwork is beautifully transformed into scarves, jewelry, accessories, and apparel. She stands at the forefront of innovation, having developed her own vision-tracking software and studied at the prestigious California Institute of the Arts, all in pursuit of pushing creative possibilities further. Her work has gained recognition through collaborations with brands like BILLY Footwear and Trexo Robotics, and she has helped raise funds for organizations such as the International Rett Syndrome Foundation, Rett Syndrome Research Trust, and Disability Rights California. As an advocate for inclusivity in art and fashion, Lilia’s journey inspires artists of all abilities.
Inspiration as an Artist
Lilia’s journey in art began as a way to express emotions and ideas that words could not convey. Using innovative technology, she creates breathtaking abstract works, commanding colors, textures, and patterns with her eyes. She draws inspiration from the world around her: a night-time firework display at Disneyland inspired Disney at Night, an abstract spectacle that bursts into existence on the ebony canvas of the night. An exhibition by Yayoi Kusama inspired Molecular Activity, where patterns emerge—circle upon circle—in a rhythmic motif that marries the scientific with the spiritual.
Lilia spends many hours layering her digital art with various colors, shapes, and effects until she feels it is complete. As demonstrated by the evolving variations of Geometric Play, her art transforms and evolves along a creative journey, often producing multiple unique works of art along the way. If the eyes are the window to the soul, then Lilia reveals hers through every piece she creates.
Like Ukrainian artists before her who have fought oppression, Lilia fights to overcome the physical limitations caused by her disability to create her art. The vibrant abstractions of Maria Primachenko and bold shapes of Sonia Delaunay have inspired her aesthetics and strengthened her artistic voice. Primachenko’s declaration—“I have created a new kind of beauty, an abstract beauty of forms and colors that is alive with rhythm and movement”—resonates deeply with the ethos behind Visual Symphony, an abstract embodiment of an orchestral experience that Lilia captured not in notes and timbres, but in color, form, and texture. Embracing Primachenko’s conviction that “Art is a language that transcends words and speaks directly to the heart,” Lilia finds her voice in the silent poetry of her creations.
Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, Lilia also drew inspiration from Walt Disney. A middle school visit to the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco’s Presidio left a lasting impression. She learned that Disney was not only an artist but also an entrepreneur, inventor, and collaborator. His invention of “storyboarding” and his collaboration with Salvador Dalí opened Lilia’s eyes to the possibilities available to a visionary artist. This inspired her to host her first art exhibit while still in middle school, displaying works she created by hand before vision-tracking technology became available to her. From that moment, she knew she wanted a future in art. Since her voice is not available as a method of expression, creating art remains essential to her emotional well-being.
Formation as an Artist
Lilia has received years of formal education and practical training throughout her artistic formation. For the past four years, she has received twice-weekly instruction from her mentor, Professor Jason Hopkins (MFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago). Under his guidance, she has studied art history, explored the works of major artists and their influences, and mastered digital software to gain visual control over this technology. She draws inspiration from Professor Hopkins’s ability to live an artistically fulfilling life that balances academia, creative expression, and business. He writes:
“Her works hearken to abstract expressionists like Pollock and de Kooning, exhibiting a personal, improvisational emotional experience that champions the non-representational through nontraditional means. But unlike her predecessors working in a tactile world, Lilia’s spontaneous action and color-field painting is entirely digital—made not by hand, but by eye. In this way, she subverts the process of hand-eye coordination, ‘willing’ her colors, textures, and patterns into being, pushing pixels around like finger paints in a psychologically more immediate and intimate way. She is a virtual pioneer, championing the liberties of the creative soul while Romantically defying disability and torpor.”
Lilia is currently continuing her education at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), where she explores applications of her abstract art across a range of media. Most recently, she exhibited two solo shows at CalArts: Somatic Configurations and Enchanted Abstract Forest.
In Somatic Configurations, Lilia displayed a selection of her iconic abstract works on illuminated cube sculptures of varying sizes, transforming the space into a vibrant, ever-shifting installation. Viewers were encouraged to direct their own perception of Lilia’s art by changing the color of light radiating from each cube. This created an opportunity to explore color and light as tools for emotional reflection. The audience could shift the mood and meaning of the work through these light waves, revealing feelings of warmth, calm, energy, or unease. This sensory regulation echoed the calming techniques Lilia uses during her digital art process, making the exhibit not only meditative but also collaborative—blurring the line between artist and audience.
Enchanted Abstract Forest offered an immersive experience in which each tree became a portal of emotion, memory, and imagination. At its heart was Lilia’s ongoing artistic experiment: a deep exploration of how her expressive abstract art transforms across mediums. Her artwork appeared across silk fabric, clay, stained glass, paper, plastic, and light—each material offering a new lens through which to experience color, texture, and mood. Towering six-foot metal trees shimmered with twinkle lights, illuminating mulberry silk printed with her vibrant designs. A clay tree sculpture was adorned with stained glass talismans featuring her signature abstract art. Small clay figurines gathered like quiet guardians among the branches and at the tree’s base. Illuminated cubes printed with her artwork cast soft glows, and viewers could change the color scheme with the touch of a button. Footprints on the floor guided visitors deeper into this magical forest where abstraction lives and breathes. Importantly, the exhibit was fully wheelchair accessible, proudly marked with the universal accessibility symbol—reminding us that creativity must be a place where everyone belongs.
Innovations as an Entrepreneur
Lilia is on the cutting edge of innovation, developing her own vision-tracking software to expand creative possibilities. She is currently collaborating with a software engineer to design a proprietary digital art platform that offers more features and a user-friendly visual interface. Not only will this help her elevate her own work, but it also promises to revolutionize art technology.
Lilia’s Eye Candy holds three provisional patents for its jewelry-making process and extension of eye gaze art to wearable fashion, which are now being converted into final patents. This proprietary process makes Lilia’s jewelry truly one-of-a-kind, merging abstract art with fashion-forward accessories. She is also collaborating with Professor Hopkins to explore gallery-level jewelry using 3D printing and precious metals.
Process and Products
Lilia is a unique artist because Rett Syndrome has left her unable to walk, talk, or use her hands functionally. She creates her artwork independently with her eyes, and her team collaborates with her to translate her vision into wearable art. She selects product designs, materials, colors, shapes, and textures, and the team brings her vision to life.
Beginning with jewelry, Lilia has designed several collections that her team hand-assembles under her direction. Each piece holds carefully selected elements of her abstract art, highlighting its detail and intricacy. Her collections span materials including sterling silver, gold, leather, glass beads, precious gemstones, and stainless steel, each tailored to a distinct aesthetic.
Expanding into new mediums, Lilia now offers art on everyday accessories such as bucket hats, bandanas, fanny packs, tote bags, and iPhone cases—items she and her team use regularly. These products showcase larger sections of her work, giving wearers and onlookers a fuller view of her visual world.
She recently launched her Luxury Silk Scarves Collection, which leverages the softness and luster of premium mulberry silk to present her art in a luxurious new format. Whether tied around your neck, worn as a headscarf, wrapped around a bag handle, or styled as a top, these scarves elevate everything from a little black dress to casual denim—turning any outfit into a statement.
Lilia also debuted her Athleisure Collection, designed for customers who embrace an active lifestyle without compromising on style. Featuring yoga leggings and padded sports bras printed with her iconic artwork, this collection blends comfort, color, and bold design—seamlessly transitioning from gym to street.
Collaborations and Philanthropy
With the support of her team, Lilia promotes her brand through social media, markets, trade shows, collaborations, and philanthropy. She maintains an active presence on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram, where she engages with customers and fans of Lilia’s Eye Candy.
Her work has been showcased at events like the Piedmont Art Walk and Venice Artists & Fleas, and she has collaborated with brands including BILLY Footwear and Trexo Robotics. In March 2024, BILLY Footwear launched the Lilia’s Eye Candy BILLY Classic D|R II High Tops featuring her Visual Symphony design—now a bestseller. Trexo Robotics also highlighted Lilia walking in her Trexo Gait Trainer, wearing her BILLY shoes and Visual Symphony silk scarf.
Lilia regularly donates products to support disability advocacy and Rett Syndrome research, contributing to events such as Reverse Rett Philadelphia, the Disability Rights California Gala, the ASCEND Rett Syndrome National Summit, and Strollathon SoCal. She has also led cause-based promotions through Lilia’s Eye Candy, donating a portion of sales to organizations supporting individuals with Rett Syndrome and other disabilities.
Ultimately, Lilia hopes her unique struggle inspires others to pursue their potential and overcome personal obstacles. Lilia sees the world in a positive light, filled with endless opportunities.