Aviva Stern began her professional life as a modern dancer.  She holds degrees in dance and composition from the  School of Performing Arts in New York City and New York University School of the Arts. She danced professionally for many years before transitioning into the visual arts.

Subsequently, Stern completed an apprenticeship in ceramic art in New York and continued her studies in sculpture and design at the prestigious Bezalel Art Academy in Israel.

Upon her return to the United States, she began exhibiting nationally.  Greatly inspired by Israel's desert landscape, Stern embarked on an exploration of ceramic surface that continues today.  Although her work is  contemporary in design, the surface has an ancient, rock-like quality with a visual reference to archaeology. 

Stern's focus expanded to include mixed media painting, sculpture and collage. She typically works with a variety of materials that encourage experimentation. Wire, wood, metal, fabric and transparency film have all been part of her two and three dimensional work. In her painting, as well as in her sculpture, her emphasis is on texture and surface.  Each new piece builds upon the preceding work; earlier ideas reappear as fresh designs, emerge in untried materials, and acquire a new identity.