Artist Name: Nataša Prosenc Stearns
Residency Dates: September – October 2026
Born: 1966
Hometown: Ljubljana, Slovenia
Lives & Works: Los Angeles, CA, USA
URL: natasastearns.com | Instagram: @natasastearns
Youtube: @natasaprosencstearns1086
Gallery: Bažato Gallery, Žula Gallery and SCCA – Slovenian Center for Contemporary Art
Education:
2001 – MFA School of Film/Video, California Institute of the Arts
Bio/Statement:
Nataša Prosenc Stearns is a visual artist and filmmaker working in the field of expanded moving image, dissolving the boundaries between film, video, print, sculpture, and installation. Her formative years unfolded amid the social and political upheavals of Eastern Europe—wars, dislocations, and cultural transformations that eventually led her to relocate to the United States. These experiences continue to shape her work, which explores psychological landscapes of displacement, memory, identity, and the alienation of contemporary life. Drawn to the mysterious and the unknown, she often works with dreams, myths from her native Slovenia, and phenomena that resist explanation or language. Visually, her practice is marked by an interest in the materiality of the body, the elemental force of water, and immersive multi-channel installations, often created for unconventional and non-gallery spaces.
Having earned her BA at the Academy of Arts in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Nataša moved to Los Angeles on a Fulbright Grant for her MFA at California Institute of the Arts, where she studied under the renowned artist Nancy Buchanan and filmmaker Thom Andersen. She has exhibited internationally in galleries and festivals across Europe, the US, and Asia, including the representation of Slovenia at the Venice Biennale. Her most recent accomplishments include the publication of her art book Incantations by Atopon Books, a Retrospective Between Body and Space at the Slovenian Cinematheque, multiple New York City presentations during her art residency, releases of digital works on the platforms Sedition and Ioginality, which also curated her work into the art on urban screens exhibitions in Dubai and London, all in 2025. Nataša Prosenc Stearns’ recent solo exhibitions include Incantations, Gallery MC, New York, USA (2026); Incantations, Gallery Layer, Kranj, Slovenia (2026); Golden Curtain, Xposed on the Highline, New York, USA (2025); Incantations, Gallery Gong / European Capital of Culture, Nova Gorica, Slovenia (2025); Caryatids, Multimedia Exhibition, SeeFest & Mauro, Los Angeles, USA (2024). Nataša Prosenc Stearns is one of the 8 collaborating artists on Wilderness, a 21-channel installation by the artist collective UMA (United Media Artists) – on view at Palazzo Mora, Venice Italy until the end of November, 2026. Recently, VoyageLA
Nataša Prosenc Stearns has received numerous grants and awards including the Prešeren Fund Award (Slovenia), Durfee Foundation Grant, and multiple festival distinctions. Her work is also present in several collections, such us Museum of Modern Art Ljubljana, Slovenia; Gallery and Museum NLB MUZA, Ljubljana, Slovenia; Gallery of Prešeren Awardees, Kranj, Slovenia; Art Gallery Velenje, Slovenia; UGM Maribor, Slovenia; private collection of Nancy Kay, USA, private collection of Brent and Wendy Martini, USA.
