Aviva grew up in Southfield, a suburb of Detroit; she went to public schools through high school. During that time, she developed an interest in art, specifically ceramics and jewelry. Intending on studying jewelry design at Wayne State University, she quickly became interested in drawing and painting early on in her freshman classes. After painting perfunctory still-lifes and figures, she realized that she was more interested in abstraction, particularly inspired from nature.

Prior to receiving her M.F.A. from Wayne State University in Painting she worked as an administrative assistant in the Department of Education at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Upon receiving her Masters degree, she moved to Chicago. In Chicago, she was a member and President of ARC Gallery, a long-standing artists' cooperative gallery.

She has taught studio art at the Illinois Institute of Art, Wayne State University, the American Academy of Art, and others.

Her recent work continues to explore consciousness and reductive landscapes. While developing this work, she was able to look closely at Japanese ink landscapes.

Aviva now lives and works in Los Angeles.