Natella, Dora

“Everything from my childhood and my life as a teenager growing up in Italy reappears in my art: the classical ballet training, my exposure to the art work from Italy’s ancient masters, my involvement with the body-art performances of the seventies. All of these elements are the essence of my artwork today.” Dora Natella. Dora was born in Venezuela and was raised and educated in Italy. She studied figurative sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Naples under Augusto Perez, a figurative artist and a pupil of Emilio Greco; Gianni Pisani, a body artist; and Alfio Castelli, an abstractionist.Contemporary masters such as Giacomo Manzu, Marino Marini, Augusto Perez, and Francesco Messina, with their very strong individual sensibilities and unique approach to the figure, inspired and influenced the direction of her work as much as the masters of the Italian Renaissance, Mannerism, and Baroque. Having artistic roots in both Europe and the New World has also been a key element of her identity as an artist.Dora earned an MFA in sculpture at Western Michigan University, in Kalamazoo, MI.Dora has produced a large body of work including a sculptural installation of eight life-size figures and six bronzes titled “Feminea Vitalitas” presented in 1997 at the Museum of Modern Art in Merida, Venezuela. “Feminea Vitalitas” addresses the spiritual vitality of women. The sculptures, along with their meaningful placement in the surrounding environment, evoke universal ideas relating to the human condition. Her sculptural installations sparked interest in their meaning, cross-cultural references to Latino women’s experiences, and topical dialogue on universal women’s issues. Themes such as motherhood, death and mourning, and the celebration and renewal of life through the menses had become predominant directions in her art.

Dora currently is the head of the sculplture department at IU South Bend. She exhibits locally, nationally, and internationally. Dora’s artwork is included in various public and private collections in the U.S. and abroad. Recently, the sculpture titled: “Cruz,” a life-size casting, has become part of the permanent collection of the Museo de Arte Moderno in Merida, Venezuela. In addition, this fall the sculpture titled: “Annunciation,” selected by Richard Hunt for last year’s Sculpture Award at the 30th Elkhart Juried Regional Exhibit, will become part of the permanent collection of The Midwest Museum of Art in Elkhart, IN.

 

To order any of Dora’s work please complete the form below stating Dora Natella‘s name in the message area and I will contact you as soon as possible. Or call Judy Ferrara directly at 1-574-276-6001.

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