Natalija V.

A forever innovative and diverse artist, influenced by her environment and impacted by humanitarian and environmental issues. Using mixed mediums to draw in and convey the message, passion and beauty conveyed in her work.  

Natalija Vocanec immigrated from Austria to Australia in 1975 and was raised by Slovenian parents in the Wollongong City Region NSW Australia (South of Sydney), where she currently resides and works as a professional artist and art educator in Shellharbour.

As a child, she experienced an strict upbringing with little support for creative expression but this never derailed Natalija from her artistic pursuit. As a young adult, Natalija encouraged to study in the areas of business and management rather than art and after many years of alternate employment paths, Natalija decided to follow her true passion and returned to college to complete a Fine Arts Diploma at West Wollongong Technical And Further Education College NSW. During her time at college Natalija held her first solo exhibition on campus within the Karoona Art Gallery, a gallery supporting only group shows, she was the first to hold a solo exhibition in the gallery at the time.

Determined to follow her creative path, Natalija decided to further her artistic pursuit, despite at the time experiencing much personal loss, she chose to further her studies in art through an online Degree of a Bachelor of Fine Arts with Curtin University WA.

Utilising skills from her management education and artistic education Natalija opened an art gallery, named Lepota Fine Art Gallery, (Lepota meaning beauty in the Slovenian) in the coastal village of Shellharbour NSW. The gallery supported local artists as well as her own art. In addition to the gallery, art classes were provided which became so popular with the community that she found herself with a difficult decision. Ten years on from that point, Da Vinci Art Studio is still growing and supporting people of the community with fine art tuition.

Over the last 15 years Natalija has exhibited in local exhibitions at Wollongong City Art Gallery, Project Contemporary Art Space Wollongong, Wollongong Old Court House, Art Arena Art Gallery, Lepota Fine Art Gallery and Shellharbour Village Exhibition Space. Internationally exhibiting in Basel, Switzerland and New York, USA through The Art Box Project. Private collections of work can be located in The NAB Business Banking Centre Fairy Meadow NSW, Net Strata Management Wollongong Head Office and the Sage Hotel Wollongong. Illawarra. Mercury Newspaper Holdings publications include coverage Natalija's artworks created for the Fundraiser for Graham Wilson from the Four Kinsmen for n  cancer treatment, Christina's House of Hope Charity Fundraiser for the protection of children affected by child abuse and The Children's Operation Art Australia, with artwork developed by students for the children's Wards covering all major NSW Hospitals.

My current body of work, “From above”, is a series of aerial perspectives of our coastal landscape. I use imagery from my own drone photography for inspiration. I have deliberately mixed mediums to depict the diversity and beauty that I see. My intention is to draw attention to the purity of its natural state in a bid to remind us of how precious it is and how important it is to preserve, so that future generations can also appreciate it .