Artist Talk - Kimberly Viviano: Food for Thought

Doors at 1:30pm

Join us for an artist talk featuring Kimberly Viviano, artist of the exhibit "Food for Thought," on view through April 25th at the IMSS. Free and open to the public

During her 2025 Artist Residency at the International Museum of Surgical Science, Chicago-based artist, design director and educator Kimberly Viviano interrogates how everyday food choices affect our bodies in uncomfortable ways. Drawing on personal experience and research, her installation investigates the tension between foods labeled “healthy” and how differently individual bodies can respond to them.

Viviano’s solo exhibition takes a concept-driven approach, spanning 2D and 3D works that challenge viewers to reconsider what they consume—and the hidden consequences baked into everyday convenience. Through bold, research-driven visual storytelling, she exposes how overlooked social and environmental conventions overwhelm our bodily systems. Her compelling infographics serve as both revelation and warning, offering a cautionary tale for individuals prone to kidney stone formation and prompting deeper reflection around eating habits long taken for granted

Kimberly Viviano is a cross-disciplinary designer and educator whose work asks viewers to reconsider what they consume and the hidden consequences embedded in everyday convenience. Through research-driven visual storytelling, Viviano exposes the environmental and social costs we often overlook—revealing systems beneath the surface and inviting deeper reflection around daily habits.

She has led numerous environmental wayfinding and public engagement projects, most notably People Powered, an initiative that originated in Chicago and went on to serve as a model for cities nationwide. Recognized as a winner of the Metropolis Magazine Next Generation Design Competition, People Powered evolved into a multi-platform campaign encompassing banners, billboards, signage, train wraps, and bike-lane and pedestrian-path graphics. The project illuminated society’s reliance on fossil fuels while advocating for sustainable, human-centered alternatives. People Powered served as a conceptual precursor to Chicago’s Divvy bike program, helping normalize cycling as a practical, healthy, and cost-effective mode of daily transportation while reducing emissions.

Viviano’s creative practice spans graphic design, artist books, printmaking, sculpture, and installation. Her artist books, Compromises and Gentrified Board Game, are held in the permanent collection of the Joan Flasch Artists’ Book Collection at the Flaxman Library. Viviano’s work exhibited internationally in Italy, China, and her print Bridge of Sighs is included in Nippon Steel’s permanent collection in Japan. She has several works in Archive’s permanent collection, and her Parrot print has received recognition from the Scarab Club in Detroit. Recent projects include Eat Ate, a series of limited-edition stone lithographs, and Inner Spaces, a porcelain sculpture series examining the presence of microplastics in waterways, ecosystems, and the human body through large scale wall installations.

Viviano holds an MFA in Visual Communication Design from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BFA in Illustration from Kendall College of Art and Design. She lives and works in Chicago as a designer, artist and educator of Visual Communication Design at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Columbia College Chicago.

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This project is partially supported by a CityArts grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.

The International Museum of Surgical Science acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.

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