Lili Bernard is a Cuban-born, Los Angeles-based visual artist. Her work examines issues of sexism, racism and trauma. She had a 2017 solo exhibition at Museum of African Diaspora. Lili received her MFA from Otis College of Art and Design and did her undergraduate studies at Cornell University and City University of New York. As well as being a prolific painter, Lili is also a mother of six, an actor, educator, author, occasional curator, longtime community organizer and founder of BAILA: Black Artists in Los Angeles. A public-figure anti-rape activist, Lili influenced the abolishment of the statute of limitations on rape prosecution in California. Currently she is campaigning with ERAnow to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.

ARTIST STATEMENT: "I create narrative artwork that chronicles sexual, racial and domestic violence, in a collision of cruelty against compassion. Autobiographical anecdotes of childhood abuse, adult rape and suicide attempts intertwine with sociocultural struggles of my Caribbean immigrant family and ancestors. Afro-Cuban religious iconography and history tether together survivorship stories of the past and present. The unconquerable nature of the human spirit reins over the impact of trauma.