Ivana Radovanović

— born in 1983 in Titograd. She earned her Master’s in Sculpture from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Cetinje under Professor Pavle Pejović and her PhD from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Belgrade under Professor Dušan Petrović. She teaches as an associate professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Cetinje. As a Fulbright postdoctoral scholar, she conducted research at St. John’s University in New York (2019) and was awarded the Silvermine Fulbright Art Residency in New Canaan, CT (2019). She represented Montenegro at the 57th Venice Biennale (2017) with the project Čovjek Uomo Human and was featured in Imago Mundi Highlights/Art Theorema #1, which established the Imago Mundi Museum in Italy. Selected for the ArTwins in Open Spaces residency program during Pafos 2017 – European Capital of Culture, she also participated in the 41st International Terra Symposium in Kikinda, Serbia. Her accolades include the Interbifep Drawing Award 2024, the International Sculpture Center (ISC) Honorable Mention 2023, the BJCEM Young Artists Biennale Award, and the Grand Prix at the 37th Montenegrin Art Salon “13. Novembar” (2015). She has held solo exhibitions in the United States, Austria, Italy, Montenegro, and Serbia, and participated in residencies and educational programs across Austria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Portugal, Finland, Greece, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and beyond.

My artistic research focuses on sculpture in the expanded field, transcending traditional boundaries and institutional frameworks to engage natural environments and overlooked spaces. Here, authentic interaction with the surroundings allows the work to undergo complete transformation.

At its core, my practice explores inner freedom, transience, emptiness, and the body we inhabit. Sculpture offers vast breadth and depth: forms are associative, figurative yet amorphous, monumental yet undefined, articulating my contemplation of human ephemerality and fluid identity.

I repurpose materials stripped of their original function: jute sacks, fishing nets, wool, hay, earth. Their “used and discarded” quality becomes a starting point for investigating transformation. These materials regain relevance as monumental sculptures integrated into ecological or urban contexts, renamed and revitalized through art to testify to transience and cyclical creation.

Transience and emptiness define human existence, yet art counterbalances these forces. Amid life’s imperfection and chaos, I believe self-reflection and boundary-pushing are pathways to growth. If an artist weaves this into their work, it may resonate with viewers. I strive for a trinity—artist, work, observer—where each component synergizes to surpass individual limits.

The creative process is a constant discovery. New spaces and situations present challenges and opportunities for deeper inquiry. Transformation is key: merging with a space, gradually uncovering where a sculpture will realize its potential. The work has its own life, pulsing and evolving through interaction with the world. I aim to respect and guide this.

While working, I embark on a mental journey uncertain of the destination. This uncertainty captivates me, opening space for unforeseen outcomes. Sketches, mental or physical, guide the process, but materials and space shape the final form. Rooted in love, my work seeks to carry life within it. If a viewer connects with this journey, the piece has achieved its purpose.

1Image: Ivana Radovanović, Ash Wednesday Souls and Bodies, St. Andras Church, Graz, Austria. Courtesy of the artist.


2Image: Ivana Radovanović, Composition, combined technique, 700x280cm. Courtesy of the artist.


3Image: Ivana Radovanović, Keep at 54F or 14C, 2023, video installation boxes, 303x83x173cm. Courtesy of the artist.


4Image: Ivana Radovanović, Praying for Lost Objects, black sheet metal, 32x32x213cm. Courtesy of the artist.


5Image: Ivana Radovanović, No Country for Young Men, 2018, installation/performance, 100 terracotta amphoras, Library Convitto Palmieri, Lecce. Courtesy of the artist and Library Convitto Palmieri, Lecce.


6Image: Ivana Radovanović, No Country for Young Men, 2018, installation/performance, 100 terracotta amphoras, Library Convitto Palmieri, Lecce. Courtesy of the artist and Library Convitto Palmieri, Lecce.


7Image: Ivana Radovanović, Au Revoir Montenegro, 2021, HOP steel, sugar cubes, 845x85x85cm. Courtesy of the artist and Risto Stijović Gallery, Podgorica.


8Image: Ivana Radovanović, The Hollow Men Burning Way, 2017, performance. Courtesy of the artist.

9Image: Ivana Radovanović, The Hollow Men, jute, straw, h 290cm. Courtesy of the artist.

10Image: Ivana Radovanović, You don't have a soul. You are the soul. You have a body. C.S. Lewis, KulttuuriKauppila Art Centre, Ii, Oulu, Finland, 2015. Courtesy of the artist and KulttuuriKauppila Art Centre, Ii, Oulu, Finland.


11Image: Ivana Radovanović, The Hollow Men Burning Way, 2017, urn, ash, glass, 21x21x21cm. Courtesy of the artist