Vivian Cavalieri builds small scenes from dollhouse miniatures, textiles and found objects, set behind museum glass in black shadow boxes. Her subjects are immigration, the environment and social justice.
She holds a BA in Fine Arts from Harvard and a JD from NYU School of Law. Her solo exhibition From War to Peace: World War II Opportunity, Postwar Domesticity was shown at the Military Women's Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. Her work traveled with WOVEN 2023 from the Sasse Museum of Art in Los Angeles to France.
Her studio is on Chincoteague Island, Virginia.
Artist statement
I am a conceptual visual artist working in three-dimensional mixed-media assemblage. My work explores themes of immigration, environmental fragility, and social justice, drawing on both personal history and broader cultural narratives. An international upbringing informs my focus on universal concerns, while my palette and visual language are deeply shaped by my Venetian heritage.
I construct highly detailed scenes using dollhouse miniatures, textiles, segments of necklaces I design, and found objects. While these materials may appear impersonal, they are carefully selected for their symbolic and often deeply personal resonance—such as a broken replica of Richard Nixon's Oval Office chair to suggest a fall from grace, or a fragment of my father's 1939 U.S. visa application, concealed within a composition addressing migration.
The format itself invites dialogue. The small scale of the work draws viewers in, encouraging close looking. Museum glass enhances this experience, creating a sense of immediacy as if one were present within the scene itself.
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