Dora Natella

Dora Natella was raised and educated in Italy; she studied sculpture in the classical tradition at the Academy of Fine Arts in Naples, Italy. Later she moved to the United States for advanced studies in bronze casting techniques and for the opportunity to immerse herself in a new culture with fewer direct connections to a classical past.

She went on to earn an MFA in sculpture at Western Michigan University, and has continued a practice that includes both teaching at the collegiate level as well as her own work in the studio. Natella presently serves on the faculty of Indiana University, South Bend. In her work, she maintains an allegiance to a legacy of the figurative tradition from the Renaissance but with openness to contemporary modes of expression. The human body is the main focus of Natella’s artwork, it is also the central subject investigated by artists throughout history. Personal narrative, memory, the sculpture process and the artists’ perceptual choices, all contribute to the construction of a deeply personal, contemplative and feminine point of view. Natella’s sculptures have won many awards and are part of several private and public collections, to mention a few: ; Robert Duncan, Lincoln, NE; Museo de Arte Moderno Juan Astorga Anta, Merida, Venezuela; ; Oakton College, Permanent Outdoor Sculpture Collection, Skokie, IL; Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI; Cristo Rey College Prep School, Permanent Outdoor Sculpture Collection, Waukegan IL; . Collection, Indiana University South Bend, Outdoors Sculpture Collection, South Bend, IN.