Oceana Rain
Stuart

ARTIST STATEMENT As an artist, my purpose is to find empathy in the work I create and to explore the tension and complexity of the subject matter. I’m fascinated by the subtle physical gestures, like the movement of a hand, the gaze of the eyes, as well as the contradictions that are enclosed in body language and how each face shares a lifetime of stories. Something powerful happens when we let our guard down - we become vulnerable, instinctively primitive and essentially raw and my passion is in expressing this through my work. BIOGRAPHY Oceana Rain Stuart was born in Forest Knolls, California and is a figurative sculpture artist and poet. She currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and her atelier is in Sausalito, California. Through her work, Stuart explores tension in emotionally evocative subject matter that is expressive of light and dark qualities. Her unique molding techniques and surface treatments subtly blend the worlds of realism and surrealism.LIFE AND CAREER
Stuart grew up in a multi-generational artistic family in California in the United States. As a young adult, she lived in Europe, where she was inspired by many of the art masters of the past and present. Stuart took classes at both the Laguna College of Art and Design and the San Francisco Art Institute, but considers herself largely a self-taught artist. Stuart holds dual citizenship with the United States of America and Italy.Stuart’s work is part of private collections internationally and she is currently working on her next bronze sculpture series which will be unveiled in early 2019.THE ETERNITY SERIES
Stuart’s most recent work, the Eternity Series, is collection of seven bronze sculptures that express aspects of life that have an eternal effect on the human condition. From this body of work, one exemplar of the Eternal Bliss bust was installed into the permanent collection at the Museo Arte Contemporanea in Catania, Sicily in 2017. Another exemplar of Eternal Bliss was one of 47 sculptures exhibited in the National Sculpture Society's 84th Annual Awards Exhibition. In addition, the A Love Remembered sculpture was pre-selected by the Museu Europeu d'Arte Modern for its Figurativas 2017 exhibition. The Eternal Embrace sculpture was exhibited at the 2017 Art Comes Alive Exhibition, where Stuart was awarded the Figurative Artist of the Year. The Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club further honored Eternal Embrace in its 121st Annual National Exhibition in New York City. In December 2017, Stuart presented her entire Eternity Series at the Instituto Italiano di Cultura at an event sponsored by the Leonardo da Vinci Society of San Francisco. The Consul General of Italy in San Francisco, Lorenzo Ortona, introduced Stuart, and compared her work to that of the artistic masters of Europe. GROUP EXHIBITIONS:AMERICAN WOMEN ARTISTSHaggin Museum, Stockton, California, 2018AMERICAN WOMEN ARTISTSSpring Online Juried Show, 2018ALLIED ARTISTS Of AMERICAAnnual Associates Online Exhibition, 201860th ANNUAL STOCKTON ARTS CLUBHaggin Museum, Stockton, California, 2018 (unable to exhibit due to the sculpture being unavailable)CALIFORNIA ART CLUB, 107TH ANNUAL GOLD MEDAL EXHIBITIONThe Natural History Museum, Los Angeles, California, 2018CALIFORNIA ART CLUB, ART BETWEEN THE LINES EXHIBITIONPeninsula Museum of Art, Burlingame, California, 2018CATHARINE LORILLARD WOLF ART CLUB, 121st ANNUAL JURIED EXHIBITIONBenefit for the Metropolitan Museum of ArtNational Arts Club, Manhattan, New York, 2018MEAM · MUSEU EUROPEU D'ART MODERNMUSEUM OF MODERN ART-BARCELONAFigurativas Painting & Sculpture CompetitionPreselected artist, Barcelona, Spain, 2017ART COMES ALIVE AWARDS EXHIBITIONAward winner of the 2017 Juried "figurative artist of the year" award.Cincinnati, Ohio, 2017THE NATIONAL SCULPTURE SOCIETY, 84th ANNUAL NATIONAL SCULPTURE AWARDS EXHIBITIONBrookgreen Gardens, South Carolina, 2017MUSEO ARTE CONTEMPORANEA SICILIA (MACS)Museum of Contemporary Art, SicilyWork on display in the permanent collection of the museum.Sicily, Italy, 2017THE LOUVRE MUSEUMInternational Salon D'Art Contemporain Exhibition, Carrousel Du Louvre, Paris, France, 2016SOLO EXHIBITIONS (in most recent chronological order): THE LEONARDO DA VINCI SOCIETY AND THE ISTITUTO ITALIANO DI CULTURA Solo Exhibition and LectureSan Francisco, California, 2017LIGHT SPACE AND TIMESolo Artist showcase, international juried online exhibition. International, 2017THE XI'th FLORENCE BIENNALE Invitation to exhibit in the International juried contemporary art biennial.Florence, Italy, 2017(unable to attend)THE ETERNITY SERIESSolo exhibition and lecture on my "Eternity"