“My name is Ivana Svjetličić, and I am a self-taught painter.Remembering my childhood days, I often dreamed of living the life of an
artist in the future, without rules, patterns, and what I had learned.
From a young age, I was myself, and that is where my authenticity has always come to the fore. Art has always been there, starting from my style of dressing, which emphasizes colors, to the fact that in my high school days, I wrote memoirs until late at night and had visions of publishing books and poetry, but my life path still led me to express myself through colors, paintings, and to leave a piece of my soul, altruism, and the essence of who I am on canvas.
In September 2018, I lost my father, who was my pride and the man I wanted to become. He was my best friend, support, strength, and support. The illness took him away, and I felt great pain. In that confusion and despair, the lostness that lasted those first years, I thought that it was precisely because of him that I had to take the path he expected, and deep down, I felt that that path was painting.”
I remember that day when, in that anger, I made that decision; I immediately went online and googled painters giving beginners courses.
That’s how I came across the painter and enrolled in a pencil course. After a few hours, the pencil was the most tedious and sketchy thing for me, and I didn’t feel complete with it.
My mentor approached me and said: “Ivana, you are a born artist; you don’t need a course or me; go to the store and buy a canvas and start painting yourself.”Taken aback, by closing that door, I opened the door to the future for myself and went to buy a canvas.
Over a period of 3 weeks, I painted my first painting in my life and posted it on social media. Surprised and positively shocked, I received inquiries for days about that painting and told myself that I would not sell that painting for under €1000. A few days later, a young couple from Munich, Germany, contacted me, saying they were very interested in the painting and wanted to come to Croatia to pick it up.
After selling that painting, I was primarily motivated to continue working, so I visited “Art Materiale” daily and stocked up on brushes, canvases, and paints. All the salary I would have earned as an ambulance nurse was invested in my creativity.
A few months passed, and at the urging of my friends, I created an official Instagram profile with my artwork. To everyone’s shock and disbelief, over 7 thousand people followed my profile within a month. I had only four works, and I received an email from “Van Der Plas Gallery,” Manhattan, New York City, saying that they had been following my work for some time, that they had discovered me on my Instagram page, and that they would like me to participate in the group exhibition “Key Of Dreams” at their gallery in March 2022.
Out of joy, shock, and delight, I went to Google the gallery because I couldn’t believe what I was reading. With my four works at that time, was it possible that I had received an invitation from a renowned gallery in Manhattan? After realizing the whole story was very serious, I decided—I’m going! I took out my first loan and invested all the money in transporting the paintings, the trip, accommodation, and staying in New York. Just before leaving for New York, I posted in the Facebook group “Croats in New York” that I was coming and participating in a group exhibition, and I wrote in the post that if anyone were free and willing, I would be thrilled if they came to support me. I went to New York with two friends, and a couple of Croatians came to the exhibition’s opening, including my current great friend Andrej Krasnić, whose wife is my best friend in New York.
He offered me help and said, “Ivana, your paintings were created for America. After the exhibition, leave them for me to keep, and I will send you the names of galleries that have an open competition for upcoming exhibitions.” And so it was. I entrusted my favorite artworks to a man I had known for only a few days and returned to Croatia. We stayed in touch, and he sent me the names of galleries daily, as agreed, to whom I sent open e-mails and invitations for cooperation. After only a month, “BWAC GALLERY” in Brooklyn, New York, contacted me and informed me that my artwork “Kolorita” had been selected as one of the 60 best works out of 10,000 applications. Opening that e-mail, I knew the next step—a long-term trip to America!
The next day, I visited the director of the Emergency Department, Dr. Rašić, and asked him for three months of unpaid leave from work. The shortage of workforce and the extensive workload of the director did not prevent him from making it possible for me, and I am infinitely grateful to him for that. After that, I bought a ticket, took out more loans, and rented an apartment in New York. I did not know English well, so I packed two suitcases and traveled alone for 3 months to America. My mother was in a slight depression and fear, and now, when we talk about it, fortunately, we laugh about those days.
In the beginning, the struggle was enormous. Andrej introduced me to
people, and I made friends there, which is the most essential thing in my
life. When I booked that ticket, the next step was to learn English. So
every day around noon, I went to a bar, ordered a coffee and a burger, and said to the waiter, “My English is a bit perfect, but I’m learning every
second! Do you want to be My teacher?” All the Americans accepted it with sympathy, and that’s how I learned English while also creating connections for the future.
In just three weeks, I perfected my language and had a solid foundation for finding a job. I worked complex jobs for minimal hourly wages, from being a nanny to a waiter to a catering worker. However, while working as a waiter, Mr. Blerim Rogova was a frequent guest at the restaurant, which had an art space not far from the restaurant. When he saw my paintings, he offered me help, and I am infinitely grateful to him for that. He is now officially my American manager.
In early September of that year, I was contacted by “Plogix Gallery,” and three of my works participated in the “Digital Out of Home Advertising Campaign” by “Plogix Gallery” in New York City, Miami, Los Angeles, London, and Paris. My works, along with those of 25 selected artists, were displayed on screens at airports, shopping malls, restaurants, squares, and public spaces for a month. A few days before I was supposed to return to Croatia, incredible collaboration opportunities opened up for me, but my visa didn’t allow that possibility, so I returned to Croatia.
Upon my return to Croatia, the media contacted me, and many interested buyers contacted me, so after a few weeks, I sold two paintings to Germany for very high prices. A few months later, “Galeria Azur” contacted me and expressed the desire for my two works of art to participate in their group exhibition “Reveries” in February 2023. Again, some connection with my favorite Picasso is happening.
The first exhibition of my life took place in Manhattan, where the MOMA
museum is located, in whose space the most famous works of Picasso are located. I also exhibit at “Galeria Azur” in Madrid, and my upcoming
exhibition is in a renowned gallery in Manhattan, right next to Picasso’s
works. You will read about that part below.
After collaborating with Madrid and returning to Croatia, Ms. Julie Kim contacted me and invited me to hold a solo exhibition at her 16-year-old
gallery, Littlefield Gallery, in Brooklyn, New York, in September 2023. I enthusiastically agreed and signed a contract with the owner, who soon
after sent a letter of invitation to the American Embassy requesting a business visa.
In early September, I went to New York and opened my first solo exhibition at the “Littlefield Gallery,” accompanied by American and Croatian media. After my return to Croatia, I received an invitation from “Auto Sport Adria” to participate in the “ASSA DALMATIA DRIVE” project and exhibited my works alongside the most expensive cars in the garage of Auto Benussi on the first day of the event, also in September of the same year.
Shortly after that project, I came up with the idea that I wanted to brighten up the gloomy and rainy streets with colorful umbrellas, or rather umbrellas with visuals of my artwork. I chose the company “Hrvatski kišobran” and collaborated with them. In parallel with art, I continue to work as a nurse in an ambulance. I am opening the business “WORLD OF COLORS” because I came up with the idea of spreading the visuals of my paintings on umbrellas and graphics, 3D prints on wood (in collaboration with Mr. Danko Obradović), furniture or home decor (in partnership with Ms. Ida Šintić) and unique magnets (in collaboration with “Polygraf printing office”).
At the beginning of 2024, I came up with the idea of organizing my firstsolo exhibition in Croatia and entered into a collaboration with Mr. Željko
Marincel and held my first event and solo exhibition in Croatia in May 2024 at the luxurious estate “Marincel.” To everyone’s delight, the exhibition was visited by 300 people that day. After the exhibition, I entered into a collaboration with Mr. Nordin Trobradović and exhibited as the only artist and painter at the “KOI&BONSAI SHOW” in Zagreb in May 2024 at FamilyMall, where I also participated in the “Exclusive Art Fair” at the beginning of March of the same year. I received an e-mail from the famous young musician at the beginning of June. “Obradovic-Tixier duo,” in which they proposed a collaboration for me to paint a painting that would be the cover of their upcoming album, “Jiggled
Juggler.” I enthusiastically agreed to the project and entered a period of complete transformation, the experience of their songs and the performance
I painted on canvas. As my favorite part of everything I have achieved so far, I would like to highlight the invitation from the famous New York gallery “Artifact Projects” to exhibit my works alongside works of art by world-famous painters Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and Joan Miro at the exhibition ‘Continuity: Modern and Contemporary Masters’ which took place on October 23, 2024.
