Oceana Rain Stuart
United States
OCEANA RAIN STUART is a figurative, sculpture artist and poet. Stuart was born in California and grew up in a multi-generational artistic family. At a young age, Stuart knew her life path was to create art and is primarily self-taught. Stuart has exhibited in many museums and galleries internationally and in the U.S., such as “The Leonardo Da Vinci Society”, “The Natural History Museum” in Los Angeles County, “The National Sculpture Society”, “The Haggin Museum”, “The American Women Artists”, “Salmagundi Art Club”, “California Art Club” and the Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art. Some of Stuart's awards include: 2019 finalist for the 14th annual “Art Renewal Center”; ARC Salon, 2018 finalist for the Non-Commissioned Portrait category by “The Portrait Society of America”, 2019 Alizarin Award by “The Representational Figurative Art Conference”, 2017 Figurative Artist of the Year by "Art Comes Alive" and 2017 Pre-Selected Artist by the “Figurativas” competition of the Museum of Modern Art, Barcelona (MEAM). Stuart’s work is collected publicly in the permanent collection of the Museum of Contemporary art in Catania, Sicily (MACS).
ARTIST STATEMENT and TECHNIQUE
“As a figurative bronze sculpture artist and poet, 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. I sculpt primarily from life in plasticine clay. I then utilize the lost wax method for bronze and apply a patina and wax sealant on the finished bronze figure. I am particularly interested in emotionally evocative subject matter, expressive of humanity and often use symbolism in my work. My molding techniques and surface treatments often blend qualities of realism and surrealism.”
* This statement has been provided directly by the artist in association to their 15th International ARC Salon entries. This content has not been edited for typos or grammatical errors and has not been vetted for accuracy.
