Viva Hanu is an architect and designer turned artist, mother of three, living and working in Bielsko-Biala, Poland.
Her creative journey began with founding Ciao Stories, a Mediterranean-inspired clothing line celebrating colour, light, and ease. Drawing on her architectural training and eye for harmonious form, she crafted garments that echoed sunlit shores and effortless style. Yet she found herself longing for an outlet that allowed for more immediate, tactile exploration beyond seams and fabric.
In 2023 in search of rejuvenation, she picked up a brush and began experimenting with paint as a personal retreat from the demands of running a fashion label. Her intuitively created, color-rich canvases quickly attracted a following online and at pop-up exhibitions. In 2025, she made the bold decision to close Ciao Stories and devote herself entirely to the freedom of painting.
Untrained in formal techniques, she leans on what she calls her “creative intelligence” to guide each work, layering vibrant pigments with spatulas and custom tools until textures rise in bold relief. Her color-saturated abstracts and geometric compositions celebrate both visual impact and physical presence, inviting viewers not just to see, but to touch and feel the dynamic interplay of hue and form.
My paintings begin with things I notice and collect in my mind & my sketchbook: the shape of a shell, a branch, a flower, a cloud, a shadow. Over time, these fragments lose their literal meaning and become something else — simplified forms, symbols, and imagined landscapes.
I use color, texture, and rhythm to create paintings that feel familiar yet open-ended, inviting viewers to find their own stories, memories, and associations.