Oceana Rain Stuart

About the artist

Oceana Rain Stuart is an American figurative bronze sculptor based in Northern California. She attended California College of the Arts, although she is primarily a self-taught sculptor. Through symbolic bronze realism and the traditional lost wax casting process, Stuart’s work explores themes of resilience, sensuality, and the subconscious. Her touring exhibition and book both titled Enigma (published by Snap Collective) debuted at the Haggin Museum in 2025.

Her work has been exhibited at numerous accredited institutions, including the Louvre, the Haggin Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art Sicily, the Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art, the Natural History Museum, the Leonardo da Vinci Society, and the National Sculpture Society. Her sculptures are featured in prominent international publications such as Arte Libre, Fine Art Connoisseur, Museum of Contemporary Art Barcelona: Escultura, Anuario Arte y Libertad XV, Leonardo: A Book of International Art Masters, and Masters of Contemporary Fine Art Vol. 3 by Pedro Boaventura of Art Galaxie.

Her bronze sculpture Reminiscence was featured in the Australian short documentary The Art Side of the Moon, which premiered in 2024.

‘Empathy and emotionally evocative subject matter is the driving force behind my work. I’m fascinated by subtle physical gestures; like the tender movement of a hand, the gaze of the eyes and contradictions that are enclosed in body language.’ –Oceana Rain Stuart

Lunar Legacy

In 2024, Stuart’s bronze sculpture Reminiscence landed on the Moon’s Malapert A region aboard the Odysseus lander as part of the Lunar Codex project. In 2025, an additional 23 of her sculptures were archived through the Lunar Codex and LifeShip missions, landing in the vicinity of Mons Latreille. She is one of the first women artists to have work preserved on the lunar surface across multiple missions, contributing to a lasting legacy of contemporary art in space.

Artwork Themes & Subject Matter

Oceana Rain Stuart is known for her realistic figurative bronze sculptures, often incorporating symbolic elements like masks, skulls, and the circle of life to reflect both light and dark aspects of existence. Her work explores themes of resilience, sensuality, human nature, and the connection between the conscious and subconscious. Blending realism with subtle hints of surrealism, she works from life and employs the lost-wax casting process.

Press

Oceana Rain Stuart’s sculptures has been featured in notable magazines, documentaries and documentaries including: Beautiful Bizarre Magazine, The Art Side of the Moon, Articulate Magazine, NASA,  Lunar Codex/Codex Nova, Fox 2 ktvu News, LifeShip, Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine, American Artists Professional League, Boynes Artist Award, Allied Artists of America, ICON Award, Marin Independent Journal, A Book of International Art Masters, Apple News, News 9, Masters of Contemporary Fine Art, Southwest Art Magazine, The Guide Artists, The Italo Americano, and Agenzia Giornalistica Il Velino.

Upcoming Exhibitions

CV

Education

BFA, California College of the Arts, California, United States

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2023

Museum of Art, Online, Germany

2017

Leonardo Da Vinci Society, Italian Institute of San Francisco, CA. United States Introduction by Lorenzo Ortona- Consul General of Italy 

 Museum of Contemporary Art, Sicily, Italy (Artwork acquired for permanent collection of museum)

 Light Space and Time, United States (Online exhibition)

Guide Artists, Spain (Online exhibition)

Creative Complex, CA. Unites States

Selected Group Exhibitions

2024

Infinity, Lunar Codex/Lunar Codex Museum of Art, The South pole of the Moon 

Oceana Rain Stuart’s bronze sculpture Reminiscence made history, landing on the Moon’s south pole aboard the IM-1 lunar lander. Future missions containing 23 of Stuart’s works are planned for the surface of the Moon for 2025 and 2026.

Honor: One of the first female artists with artwork on Moon- declared historic by NASA’s Artemis program. 

Infinity, LifeShip time capsule, 23 of Stuart;s works are part of future missions slated for the surface of the Moon, Deep Space and Mars. 

2023

American Women Artists, Brookgreen Gardens, South Carolina, United States

American Women Artists, Customs House Museum, Tennessee, United States

2022

The Haegeumgang Museum, Geoje, South Korea (Artwork acquired for permanent collection of museum)

Allied Artists of America, The Butler Institute of America Museum, Ohio, United States (Award: Ranieri Sculpture)

National Sculpture Society, Bonita Museum, California, United States

American Women Artists, Texas, United States (Honor: Elected Board Member)

Grandmasters of Fine art Online Exhibition, United Kingdom

See also

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DIGITAL ARTANIMAL ARTDIGITAL COLLAGEMAGICAL REALISMPHOTO MANIPULATIONSURREAL ART

Anneke Bloema

American Artists Professional League, New York, United States (Honor: Elected Board Member Director)

Art Renewal Center, New York, United States (Award: Finalist)

2021

Figurativas Biennial, Museum of Modern Art Barcelona, Spain (Award: Preselected artist)

Portrait Society of America, Florida, United States (Award: Non-Commissioned Portrait Finalist)

American Artists Professional League, Salmagundi Club, New York, United States (Recipient of Board of Directors Award for Sculpture)

33 Contemporary Gallery, Illinois, United States

 Pacific Rim Sculptors, Commonwealth Club of San Francisco, CA. United States

Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art, curated by Steve and Elaine Bennett, Wisconsin, United Staes

Poets Artists, curated by Daniel Maidman, United States (Online exhibition)

Allied Artists of America, Salmagundi Club, New York, United States (Award: Allied Artists of America Award for Sculpture)

Art Renewal Center, New York, United States (Award: Finalist)

American Women Artists, United States (Online exhibition)

National Sculpture Society, Brookgreen Gardens, South Carolina, United States