VIVIAN MANZARDO




   


Vivian Manzardo is a metal and ceramic artist based in Stockholm.  In her practice, she explores the female body as a site shaped by social expectations, cultural taboos, and persistent structural inequalities. Grounded in feminist and gender theory, her practice is equally informed by embodied making. Working across blacksmithing, ceramics and jewellery, Manzardo deliberately combines materials with contrasting associations. Through physically demanding processes such as forging, raising and goldsmithing, the artist’s own body becomes a tool.

In her latest work “Too Strong, Too Soft”, the artist transforms craft into a site of resistance, reclaiming blacksmithing, silversmithing and ceramics as radical, embodied acts of defiance. The installation unfolds through three interconnected works: “Breathe”, “How Heavy is Your Period (Product)?”, and “Tools of Resilience”, mirroring a journey from internalised shame to externalised protest. The body ceases to be a battleground, becoming instead a workshop for change, where the tools become extensions of the self.

She holds an MFA in CRAFT – Jewellery and Corpus from Konstfack and a BA in Jewellery Design from Pforzheim University (DE). She received the 2nd prize at the Design Award Binder Gruppe 2022 in Pforzheim (DE) and was nominated for the Klimt02 New Talents Award 2023. 
Manzardo exhibited internationally at Schmuck2026 (Munich, DE), at Kulturhuset and TheCell during Stockholm Craft Week 2025 (SE), Inhorgenta 2024 (Munich, DE), Fuorisalone 2024 (Salone del Mobile Milan, IT) and Dutch Design Week 2023 (Eindhoven, NE). She was awarded scholarships from Estrid Ericssons Stiftelse (2025, 2026), Beata Brummers Stiftelse (2025) and Axel N Anderssons Stiftelse (2025).