Raven Kushner (she/her) was born in Los Angeles, California, and is currently living in New York and working in Brooklyn. Her lifelong obsession with the Victorian era led her to the little known history of the African American aristocracy of the 19th and early 20th centuries. This, in turn, led her to the surprising discovery that her lineage includes one such aristocrat - multi-millionaire farmer and entrepreneur Junius George Groves (April 12, 1859 – August 17, 1925). Thus began the scholarly research which informs her current work.

She is classically trained, with a foundation in academic figure drawing. She studied under Francis Vallejo, fine artist, illustrator, and instructor at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, MI, as well as El Camino College, New Masters Academy, and the Watts Atelier.