Artist Shruti Vij

Artist Shruti Vij talks to The Tiles of India about art and sustainability issues

Gurugram based artist Shruti Vij, is an alumna of the prestigious National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), New Delhi, and is an art enthusiast, a painter with a distinct individual style. Shruti’s art is not limited by style or technique. She likes to leave it free. She blended her artistic skills with her experiences in the fashion field, bringing about a perfect marriage of her two passions. It is about what touches her heart.

During the past few years, Shruti has participated in many art shows, both nationally and internationally and has won great appreciation from art lovers and critics alike. She has an art studio by the name of Shruti Arts. We speak to her about art and sustainability issues.

Shruti Vij in conversation with The Tiles of India

What is sustainable art according to you?

Imagine a world where creativity not only inspires us but also protects the very planet we live on. A world where every brushstroke, every sculpture, and every installation carries within it a message of hope, resilience, and responsibility. This world is not far away—it is already here, in the growing movement we call sustainable art.

Sustainable art is where beauty meets responsibility. It is where artists become not only creators but also guardians of the Earth. In today’s time, when we face overwhelming challenges—climate change, overflowing landfills, and dwindling resources—sustainable art reminds us that imagination itself can be a form of activism.

Can you share with us about some art and artists that are doing some incredible work?

These incredible artists from all over the world ask: “What if waste was not the end, but the beginning?”. They take discarded bottles, worn-out fabrics, or broken pieces of wood, and breathe life into them again. El Anatsui turns humble bottle caps into shimmering curtains of culture.

Guerra de la Paz sculpts secondhand clothing into bold statements about excess and identity. What society rejects, they transform into visions of possibility.

How do artists help in raising awareness about various issues related to sustainability?

Sustainable art isn’t just about reusing materials—it’s also about raising awareness. It makes the invisible, visible.

Think of Olafur Eliasson’s melting blocks of ice, placed in public squares, allowing us to literally feel the passing of time and the reality of climate change. Or Andy Goldsworthy’s intricate land art, built from twigs, leaves, stones—masterpieces that celebrate nature’s fragility before vanishing back into the earth. Each piece is a gentle reminder: we are part of nature’s cycle, not above it.

Sustainable art also challenges our assumptions about permanence. For centuries, we measured art by its ability to last forever. But what if the most powerful art is temporary, biodegradable, regenerative? What if beauty doesn’t need to defy time, but instead, dance within it? With renewable dyes, solar-powered installations, and living, breathing materials, artists are redefining what value in art truly means.

And beyond the canvas or the gallery, sustainable art connects to something much larger: the vision of a circular economy. It teaches us to reuse, to reimagined, and to minimize waste. It shows us that innovation and sustainability can walk hand in hand. Above all, it makes clear that every act of creation is also an act of responsibility.

So, sustainable art is more than an artistic choice—it is an ethical compass. It provokes us, it educates us, and it gently but powerfully guides us towards a more mindful existence.

In the end, sustainable art carries this timeless lesson: that art is not only about what we create, but also how we create. It ensures that our legacy as humans is not only etched on walls and canvases, but also written in the wellbeing of the Earth itself.

So the next time you see a sculpture made of recycled materials, a painting colour with natural dyes, or an installation powered by the sun—don’t just see it as art. See it as a vision of the future. A future where beauty and responsibility walk side by side.