Vivi Niya Gao

Vivi Niya Gao is a Chinese Canadian interdisciplinary artist, currently living and working in Chicago. She graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2024, majoring in sculpture and installation. She is the founder of Us Gallery Contemporary. Her work has been exhibited in group shows at the Alberta University of the Arts in Calgary, the Albright-Knox Gallery in Buffalo, the John B. Aird Gallery in Toronto, the Stephen Bulger Gallery in Toronto, Art Etobicoke in Toronto, the University of Toronto – Trinity Review, the Zhou Brothers Art Center in Chicago, Co-Prosperity in Chicago, CICA Museum in Korea, and Unwashed Kunstverein Bayreuth in Germany.


Artist Statement

Through my work, I aim to reflect on the impermanence of “home” and how spaces adapt over time, shaped by human interaction, memory, and shifting environments. My sculptures often merge semi-functional architectural elements with performative aspects, creating works that invite engagement and transformation. They serve as reminders of the fluidity of identity and the resilience required to navigate ever-changing landscapes, both physical and emotional. Rooted by my migratory experience, and bringing a playful approach to spaces that embody freedom, adaptability, and self-determination, I explore how structures and systems hold the tension between permanence and change.

“When you enter my home, where a revolving door reshapes the space between us. A living wall of grass and a floor of fluffy creatures. Looking closely, a translucent wall on wheels blurs the memory and the line between inside and out. And a blanket that moves when you sleep. While shutters play a game of peek-a-boo. Everything moves, everything travels—ready to roll and transform.”

In my most serious series, “Architecture and Body”, I am interested in daily habits and how the architecture forces inhabitants to adopt alternative patterns. Under the culture of uncertainty and restriction of social movements such as the pandemic, freedom of expression, and migration policies, the idea is to create work that can be relocated and build new ways of entering life.

The most current ongoing work is called “Nomad”, a collection of playful small portable sculptures that can travel with me after my final year as a senior.

All the marks we leave behind—physical or emotional—become a part of the home.


niyagao.com