ABOUT THE ARTIST
Oceana Rain Stuart is a prominent American contemporary figurative bronze sculptor and poet. She studied at California College of the Arts on a full scholarship, majoring in fashion design and fine art with a minor in writing, literature, and ecological practices. Renowned for her emotionally charged, symbolic sculptures, she has become one of today’s leading realistic figurative sculpture artists.
Lunar Legacy
On February 22, 2024, Oceana Rain Stuart’s bronze sculpture Reminiscence made history, landing on the Moon’s south pole aboard the IM-1 lunar lander. This marked Stuart as one of the first female artists with artwork on the Moon, as part of NASA's historic Artemis mission.
Stuart’s art is preserved in the Lunar Codex Museum of Art, with 23 works featured across multiple missions, ensuring her legacy in humanity’s cultural heritage on the Moon. She is also part of LifeShip, contributing 23 digital sculptures for preservation alongside Earth's DNA for missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
Exhibitions and Recognition
Oceana Rain Stuart’s work has been featured in renowned museums and galleries worldwide, including the Louvre, Leonardo da Vinci Society, Natural History Museum, Haggin Museum, Butler Institute of American Art, Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art, and Salmagundi Art Club. She has held board positions with the American Artists Professional League and American Women Artists and is an elected member of the National Sculpture Society, Allied Artists of America, and the American Artists Professional League. Additionally, Stuart has served as a juror for numerous international exhibitions and was the Juror of Awards for the 2022 American Artists Professional League national exhibition.
PUBLICATIONS
Oceana Rain Stuart's work has been published in numerous publications such as Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine, Beautiful Bizarre Magazine, Anuario 'Arte y Libertad XV1', Leonardo: A Book of International Art Masters, by Gloria Hernandez, Jose Enrique Gonzalez, and Joaquin Morales, Masters of Contemporary Fine Art - Volume 3 by Pedro Boaventura of Art Galaxie, Southwest Art Magazine 'Ones to Collect,' On Art and Aesthetics, The Guide Artists, Light Space and Time's '3D Artists to Watch, Italo Americano. In 2017, AGV (Agenzia Giornalistica Il Velino), The New York Optimist and channel 2 news.
Awards
Stuart has received numerous awards, including being awarded 'finalist' for Beautiful Bizarre in 2019 and 2024, 'finalist' of Art Renewal Center (ARC) from 2019–2024, and the 2022 International 'ICON' Award from the Los Angeles Beverly Awards (LABA). She was also a 'finalist' of the National Portrait Society in 2021 and 2022.
Stuart was 'pre-selected' as an artist for the Museum of Modern Art Barcelona (MEAM) 'Figurativas' in 2017, 2021, and 2022. Additionally, Stuart won the 'Ranieri Sculpture Award' from the Allied Artists of America Gold Medal Exhibition, 'Board of Directors Award' from 'American Artists Professional League', the 2021 Art Lovers Choice from the California Art Club, Blink Art Comes Alive’s 'Figurative Artist of the Year,' and the Alizarin Award at the Representational Figurative Art Conference.
COLLECTIONS
Stuart’s sculptures are held in significant private and public collections, including; Museum of Contemporary Art in Catania, Sicily (MACS), Lunar Codex, Lifeship, Haegeumgang Museum, South Korea and Hollywood notables.
Sculptress Oceana Rain Stuart and her bronze sculpture Reminiscence-Woman from the Moon
"As a figurative bronze sculpture artist and poet, my purpose is to find empathy in the work I create, and to explore tension and complexity of the subject matter. I’m fascinated by subtle physical gestures, like the movement of a hand, the gaze of the eyes, as well as contradictions that are enclosed in body language and how each face shares a lifetime of stories, and to me this is true beauty. My passion is in expressing this through my work.
Something powerful happens when we let our guard down - we become vulnerable, instinctively primitive, and essentially raw. It is an honor to witness moments in life like these, that lure the viewer in, if only for a moment, it is an experience and an opportunity, so naturally expressed by life that it is inspiring artistic material for me. And in these moments the human condition gives me endless ideas for my practice. 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."
