Curriculum Vitae

Sanja Star
b. 1982, Croatia
sanja.star@gmail.com
sanjastar.com
@_sanjastar
Berlin, Germany

Bio

SANJA STAR (b. 1982, Croatia) is a Berlin-based transdisciplinary artist, educator, and performer whose practice navigates the thresholds of perception through digital abstraction, audiovisual improvisation, and generative systems. Integrating 3D animation, sound design, and real-time performance, her work investigates the immaterial architectures of light, frequency, and geometry—drawing conceptual influence from quantum physics, cymatics, and esoteric knowledge systems.

Operating across live A/V, immersive installation, and transmedia narrative, Star constructs perceptual ecologies that stretch and disrupt sensory boundaries. Central to her methodology is a unique “sonic illustration” process, wherein sonic frequencies are transduced into dynamic visual phenomena, often realized through collaborations with experimental sound practitioners. Her practice critically engages with abstraction, pareidolia, and the transformative interrelations between image and sound, articulating a digital metaphysics of perception.

Deeply invested in how frequency and vibration shape form—both materially and in digital space—Star translates these invisible forces into computationally mediated aesthetic experiences. She is a core member of the audiovisual ensemble Pitch Shifting and serves on the board of Richten25, an association dedicated to experimental music and contemporary sonic arts in Berlin.

Education

Erasmus+ transnational collaboration and mobility in education, Design Lecturer – Tenerife (ES)
Erasmus+ transnational collaboration and mobility in education, Design Lecturer – Naples (IT)
University of the Arts London - London College of Fashion (UK) – Fashion and Sustainability
University of Zagreb – Faculty of Graphic Arts (HR) – Master in Graphic Design (Thesis: Optical Illusions - Holography in Print)
University of Osijek – Faculty of Human and Social Sciences (HR) – Art Pedagogy Diplom
Edunova – School of IT and Management (HR) – Web Design Diplom
Gymnasium Vinkovci (HR) (Thesis: Pablo Picasso)

Exhibitions (Selection)

2025 "Echoes of the Matrix" - School of Machines Berlin (DE)

2024 "To see the unseeable" - ZEZ x KLET: 9th Sound Exhibition Zagreb (HR)

2024 BRICKSONIC #4 Backsteinboot Berlin (DE)

2024 MANIFEST:IO Symposium for New Media + Electronic Art Berlin (DE)

2023 Manchester Theatre in Sound UK

2022 Abstract Art with New Media Chongqing (CHN)

2020 Contemporary Art Gallery Nottingham UK

2020 Loosenart: Mirrors and Reflections Rome (IT)

2015 Concurso Internacional Francisco Mantecón RS

2015 Woman Worker Association Creative Krk (HR)

Performances (Selection)

2025 Pitch Shifting (Savic + Star) - Ausland, Berlin (DE)

2024 Sanja Star + Katharina Bévand - VJOpenLab #38 series - Studio 1111, Berlin (DE)
2024 Pitch Shifting Group, ISPOD BINE Festival, Split (HR)
2024 Fluid Form Club #6, Ausland, Berlin (DE)
2024 Hošek Contemporary, Berlin (DE)
2024 Petersburg Art Space, Berlin (DE)
2023 Containerklang #21, Museum of Applied Arts Cologne (DE)
2023 Vorspiel / transmediale & CTM, Berlin (DE)
2023 Kunstsommer Wiesbaden, Kunsthaus Wiesbaden (DE)
2022 Audioart 13 Experimental & Improvised Music Festival, Pula (HR)
2021 31st Music Biennale Zagreb, Zagreb (HR)
2020 BOND International Virtual Live Performance Festival, NY (US) / CHN

Artist Residencies

2025 Mars Berlin Residency - School of Machines - Berlin (DE)

2024 STOPover Residency, Alte Münze, Berlin (DE)

2023 FLUXUS „Pip pip aio oia“ Residency, Kunsthaus Wiesbaden (DE)

2019 6th Silk Road International Art Residency, Xi’an (CHN)

Grants and Project Funding

2023 Grant - Containerklang #19 Köln, #20 Essen, #21 Köln - project production funding - Gesellschaft für Neue Musik Ruhr e.V. und Kölner Gesellschaft für Neue Musik

Professional Experience / Design

2019–Present: Freelance Transmedia Designer, Artist, Lecturer, Berlin (DE)
2021–2024: Web Designer, The Brand Show.TV, Berlin (DE)
2018–2019: Senior Graphic Designer, ic!Berlin Premium Eyewear, Berlin (DE)
2018: Senior Lead Designer, eBay GmbH, Berlin (DE)
2016: Art Director, j.jackman Fashion Brand, Berlin (DE)
2010–2014: Lead Graphic Designer, Lotusmedia GmbH Agency, HR

Academic Engagements and Artistic Presentations

2025 Guest Lecturer, Interaction Design, srh University Berlin

2024 Workshop Facilitator – Audiovisual Improvisation, Audio Reactivity, and Generative Art – Catalyst Institute for Creative Arts and Technology Berlin
2024 Guest Lecturer, Motion Design, HMKW University, Berlin
2023 Presentation of Artistic Works, Museum of Applied Arts Cologne

2022 Guest Lecturer, Sonic Illustration, Catalyst Institute for Creative Arts and Technology Berlin
2022 Lecturer, Experimental Design, UX/UI, Brand Design, BEST-Sabel Design Academy, Berlin
2022 Presentation of Artistic Works, Universität der Künste Institut für zeitbasierte Medien Berlin
2020 Artist Talk & Performance, #Frickler Series, Berlin

Curation

2025 Waveforms A/V series, Richten25 Berlin

2024 StopOver 2 – Co-curator, Radialsystem Berlin
2024 Richten 25 – Board Member & Curator, Berlin
2023 Das Ende. – Co-curator, Berlin

Artist Collaborations

Richard Scott, Grgur Savić, Vivienne Griffin, Rieko Okuda, Katharina Bévand, Samuel Hall, Daniel Craig, Ute Wassermann, Ulrich Phillipp, Tomomi Adachi, Wolfgang Schliemann, Witch 'n' Monk, Birgit Wieger, Ulrike Schwarz, Yorgos Dimitriadis, Silvia Sauer, Han-earl Park, Heidrun Schramm, Marina Džukljev, Asaf Eden, Sofia Salvo, İpek Odabaşı, Megumi Eda, Kazuhisa Uchihashi, Chris Hill, Isabel Rößler, Sem Forma Fabíola, Ana Bogner, Henrik Munkeby Nørstebø, Antti Virtaranta, Daniel Dragoescu, Sveta Bird, Chris Hill, Carina Khorkhordina, among others.

Memberships

Bild-Kunst Berufsgruppe I
Künstlersozialkasse
BBK Berlin - Berufsverband Bildender Künstler*innen Berlin e.V.
Internationale Gesellschaft der Bildenden Künste (IGBK)

Languages

German (Goethe-Zertifikat C1)
English (Professional Proficiency)
Croatian (Native)

Stop Over 1 at Alte Münze Berlin - photo Henry Schulz