ENVIRONMENTAL STORYTELLING THROUGH ART
Cultivating the space between stillness and awareness
Vivienne is an artist–researcher whose practice sits at the intersection of inquiry, creativity, and environmental storytelling. She works with our evolving natural environment, shaped by planetary shifts. Through Japanese ink paintings (sumi-e), sculpture, filmmaking and publishing — she translates complex ecological change into sensory experiences, portraying our delicate ecosystems. Observation of nature serves as an overarching theme, capturing the subtle shifts of the 72 Japanese micro-seasons.
Two in five plant species are facing extinction, Vivienne seeks to normalise the conversation around biodiversity — not through alarm, but through tenderness. Hope and the cultivation of care is a central thread in her work: an active practice informed by her courses at the University of Oxford, including studies on creative and hopeful responses to climate change, and on ethics and hope in a shifting climate with an environmental ethicist who has since joined her advisory board. Together, they shared a public talk on climate ethics and hope at OmVed Gardens. Vivienne believes that metaphors in storytelling are powerful tools to speak of loss and renewal with beauty, compassion, and a grounded sense of possibility.
These observations inform a series of ongoing projects. Her work invites reflection on cultural tradition, on the ways we perceive information, and on how we engage with the natural world of which we are part.
Vivienne follows plants, seeds, and future food cultures as they navigate environmental change and shifting food security. She moves gently between research and making, including soil, water, fire, and air — the elements that sustain life — and opening space for renewed care and connection.
Her work explores the life cycle of plants, particularly their journey to seed production, with special attention to preserving the knowledge she gathers along the way, as we are all learning to adapt to climate shifts.
You are invited to learn more about Vivienne’s creative practice here — and about being a sumi-e artist here.
Explore ongoing projects
Vivienne likes to work on long-term projects, regularly adding her new learnings from her research, investigations and collaboration with her advisors.
An invitation to connect with the natural world:
Other studio activities
International exhibitions, art education—including the development of a sustainable primary and secondary school art syllabus, classes, talks, and workshops—as well as collaborations with advisors, commissions, books, artist residencies, and a focus on using natural art materials.
News
ARTIST IN RESIDENCE
Ensō House Portugal
The release of two publications from WHAT THE SILENCE GREW — Vivienne Schadinsky’s printing strand, part of her ongoing art practice — under FLEET AND RHINE PUBLISHING.
Edible Flowers — Chloris, and Future Food — Viridis.
Two small books. Environmental Storytelling Through Art . Two conversations with what the earth offers us.
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Images from Ensō House website
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