About
I am Dragoslava Djurić, a Serbian painter raised in Japan. Working primarily in oil, I explore wildlife, landscape, and the often fragile relationship between animals and the human world.
I am drawn to animals outside their grandest or most symbolic moments: a bird resting, a mouse watching from beneath leaves, a wild animal moving quietly through its habitat. Through these moments, I explore vulnerability, presence, survival, and the lives that continue largely beyond human attention.
My current practice increasingly turns toward the wildlife and landscapes of the Balkans. Painting, field observation, and encounters with conservation work have become interconnected parts of how I approach places and the lives within them.
Background
Born in Serbia and raised in Japan, I grew up between different cultures, languages, and landscapes. Drawing and painting were constants from childhood, alongside a fascination with animals and the natural world.
I later studied Policy Management at Keio University in Japan and spent several years working in a corporate environment. Although my academic path was not a conventional fine arts education, I continued my artistic training through six years of regular atelier practice in Japan while working professionally. I eventually left my corporate career to devote myself fully to developing an independent studio practice.
Returning to the Balkans has gradually changed the direction of my work. What began as a longstanding interest in individual animals has expanded toward questions of habitat, disappearance, coexistence, and the relationship between wildlife and the landscapes shaped by human presence.
My current project, ZORA - Her Forgotten Forest, centres on the endangered Balkan lynx and the forest it inhabits. Developed through painting and encounters with conservation work in North Macedonia, the project traces a forest through its animals, plants, rhythms, and absences. It has become a way for me to explore how painting can bear witness to a place and to lives that may disappear from it.
Alongside ZORA, I am developing the Moonlight series, which explores cycles, time, and the altered presence of animals and landscapes under nocturnal light. Across these bodies of work, I am interested in creating paintings that remain quiet and open while carrying an underlying awareness of ecological fragility.
My painting process is slow, layered, and observational. I am interested in what sustained attention can reveal about another living presence, and what painting can preserve when that presence becomes vulnerable to disappearance.
Contact
Thank you for your interest in Dragoslava Fine Art.
Whether you’re an art collector, a nature enthusiast, or someone looking to make a difference through art, I’d love to hear from you.