Ivana was born in Belgrade to a lineage of artists; her mother is an artist and her grandfather was an artist and President of the Academy of Arts in Belgrade. Ivana spent her early childhood living in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East followed by boarding school in Switzerland where she studied visual arts at “A” level. Ivana received her BA from Brown University (double degree in Visual Art (honors) and History); and her J.D. from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in NYC. While obtaining her bachelor-of-arts degree at Brown, she also studied painting at the Rhode Island School of Design. Ivana continued her post-graduate figurative art education at the New York Academy of Art in New York City. Over the last twenty-five years, she practiced law in New York while also painting; in 2004 she retired from law to be a full-time artist. Ivana moved to Dubai with her family in 2006 where she works as an artist. She continues her art education by taking painting workshops with renowned artists worldwide.
Statement
Painting is my most personal form of expression. It has always been my happy place and what heals me. It is a profound form of introspection and meditation for me where I delve into the depths of the human experience. This is what I aim to capture through the portraits that I paint, allowing the expression of the subject’s own humanity and character to come through and one that I find, tells a story. Oftentimes, it's the relationship between the characters and their inner world interacting with the physical space that they inhabit.
I draw on my studies, my travels and places I have lived, influences from East and West, and my mentors and artists I admire celebrating and connecting to the beauty of the natural world and the depths of the human spirit through my paintings. Painting is a journey symbolizing a necessary vulnerability in both the painter and viewer, one that asks you to question and possibly, alter your perspective.
Painting has always been in my life, I grew up in a family of artists, but didn’t pursue painting as a career until after university out of the fear of not being able to support myself with my art. However, after a life-altering experience where I was faced with my mortality by going through open-heart surgery, I realized that life is too short, too precious and too fragile not to pursue one’s natural calling and passion.
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