While Liam is constantly jet-setting around the world, whether for modelling or art shows, her home these days is in Penang, where she moved during the pandemic. “I technically got stuck there during the pandemic and started growing my practice increasingly as my daily life and work intertwined with the city,” she reminisced. “I like Penang; it has fewer distractions, and I find it easier to run a studio and focus on my work.”
Liam’s Penang household also includes her husband, Lithuanian artist Ernest Zacharevic, who first gained fame for the large-scale street art murals he did in George Town. Married since 2018, the couple have studios in Penang.
“We work very differently and have different processes, but I find having a deep understanding of each other’s careers creates a shared experience we both enjoy,” she concluded. “He likes getting feedback, and I enjoy having sole independence over my work. He also creates mess and chaos, and I require a clean studio with no paints or food near my work due to the nature of the raw canvases I work with. Now that we have separate studios, it’s more functional for work-life balance.”