Vojna Bastovanovic Casteel

Vojna Bastovanovic Casteel is an award-winning multitalented artist inspired by her experience and relationship with the natural world. Known for original works illustrating animals and people, she beautifully portrays realistic subjects in distorted abstract environments. She loves exploring calm colors juxtaposed with bold strokes and active figures to create tension that tells a moving story.

Vojna was born and raised in Belgrade, Serbia, during a historically troubled time. The first part of her life created unsettled issues always represented in her art. She states, "Because of the issues, I often tend to run away from hard emotions, and my art helps with that. It's important to me to materialize my thoughts, emotions, and subconscious into a vision of the world that is possible to share with others and myself later."

Vojna was fortunate to grow up an Ambassador's daughter. As a result, she enjoyed living and traveling in countries across the globe, including England, France, and South Africa. Each setting exposed her to new cultures, styles, arts, and creative mediums that heavily influenced her artistic methods and subject matter. For example, living in South Africa inspired her to create works featuring large wild cats.

She attended the University of Fine Arts in Belgrade, where she earned both a Bachelor's and Master's degree. Her extensive education and life experience helped launch a professional career where she explores a variety of mediums, including mosaic, watercolor, and oil painting. Creating reality from patches of color and shape using the mosaic technique is her first love. Her devotion to the craft has led her to create hundreds of square meters of portrait mosaics for public spaces, large churches, and private commissions. Even when she is not working with the mosaic medium, the influence allows her to view her works in other mediums as a sum of parts.

Vojna moved to Oklahoma City, where she is now bringing a tradition of European art to the United States. Each original piece she makes possesses a unique message, but she hopes anyone who discovers her artwork will genuinely connect to the personal experiences they find within it. Vojna remains a member of the Artist's Guild of Serbia and has participated in solo and group exhibitions throughout Europe and America. In addition, her paintings, drawings, and mosaics are found in private collections worldwide.

To learn more about Vojna Bastovanovic Casteel and purchase her work, please visit the Objets Trouvés website.