Born in Traralgon, Gunaikurnai Country, Victoria, Vivien Gaston studied painting at RMIT. She lives and works in Hawthorn, Wurundjeri Country, Victoria, in London and the Abruzzo mountains.  

Her painting and drawing practice reinterprets genre and technique, exploring past cultures within contemporary contexts. Her work includes landscape, portraits and narrative, informed by myth, memory and the sublime.  

Her portrait of Maudie Palmer AO was a finalist in the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize, 2022. 

She is a recognised curator and writer, having published widely and curated highly regarded exhibitions at major galleries, including the National Gallery of Victoria. She is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne.