Ivana earned an MFA in Mixed Media from the Academy of Applied Arts University in Belgrade and later pursued postgraduate studies in printmaking from the University of New Mexico. While she did take a break from fine arts to pursue a 20-year career as the Creative Director for a Fortune 500 Company, focused on innovative technology, custom training, and digital communications, throughout Starcevic kept connected to art through her work as both a rescue animal photographer, and a contributor to Getty/iStock.

Now retired from business, Starcevic daily plays with rhythmic layers of vivid acrylics and oils, energetically exploring alternatives on canvas. Her paintings are rich in color, verve and motion, whether inspired by landscape, light, or New Mexico’s sky. Her current large-scale work, inspired by southwestern hues and views, is usually painted from memory, “guided by intuition and fueled by imagination.” Unafraid of challenges, her style bold, her approach sometimes messy, Starcevic’s curiosity and passion infuse her paintings. Her work, described by one critic as “unshakably cosmopolitan, irreversibly modern and strikingly innovative,” has been exhibited nationally and internationally, and her pieces are in both public and private collections.