Interview with Irina Howard

Irina Howard is a published international award-winning visual artist based in New York City who has recently brought her portfolio to the public eye. In a short time, the artist had her art juried and was invited to exhibit at galleries in the United States and Europe. She has won multiple awards and is featured on major art platforms, galleries, and worldwide art shows. She was also selected as a Top 60 Masters of Contemporary Art in 2022 and will be awarded the Oskar of Visual Arts by ArtTour International in June 2022. In addition, she is the Artist for the Green Planet and a Voice of Tomorrow (awarded by the Contemporary Art Curator Magazine). Her artworks belong to several private collections in various countries.  

Irina was born and grew up in Ukraine and spent her youth in the elite cultural group committed to arts and literature, where she established her lifelong passion for the arts. She started up as a stage performer at the Kyiv Professional Chamber Theater. However, after immigrating to the United States, Irina spent decades away from the arts and felt at a standstill. Every career she explored has brought her a feeling of having a purposeless life.

Middle age crisis happened, which motivated her to change her career and commit to a meaningful lifetime passion. She went back to school to obtain a degree in fine arts and found herself on the brightest side of her talent, exploring every art discipline. Irina graduated with honors from the City University of New York and Yale Gordon College of Arts and Sciences.

Her childhood was full of personal and family tragic events. Feeling powerless amidst the injustices surrounding her, she was compelled to shout out to society with expressive drawings. Later, Irina emerged with the idea that an artist has no right to contribute any more pain to a world full of struggle and despair. This belief kept her silent for many years until she could no longer carry on an overwhelming need to express her creativity. 

Irina communicates her life experiences and philosophical views expressed via visual language elements (e.g., lines, shapes, forms, textures, and colors) through her work. Patterns of Life is her current project that explores the challenges in life and their influences on the development of the human soul. Artist draws inspiration from organic texture and composes her themes by giving physical form to a conceptual idea. Her audience is curies to see the next piece welcoming them into a magical abstract creative realm invented by the artist. 

How would you describe yourself and your artworks? 

I am a visual artist, designer, and art educator. As a person with diverse interests, I have fallen in love with arts and literature since I was young. With a degree in radio technology and prior performing experience, I started as a performing artist at a professional chamber theatre in Ukraine. "That is impossible!"- shot out some of my friends. However, my passion for theatre stood up for itself to equal my abilities to a professional performer's level without a theatrical degree. My parents, motivated by practical decisions in life, decided on my future in connection with technology while I had interests in arts, literature, history, psychology, and philosophy. Nevertheless, my humanitarian nature empowered me to follow my passion despite taboos or barriers.

After moving to the US, I decided to study fine arts. "It is so unpractical! How would you make a living out of the arts? It is impossible!" – repeated my friends. As an outcome, I made it through school. "Are you that good in all art classes?" - asked one of my professors – "that is impossible!" Yet, my passion and talent stood up to make the impossible - possible. I responded to my life purpose regardless of how practical or impractical others judged my decision. Being an artist is not a choice. It is who you are and your way of living.

I explored different careers throughout life, resisting to be who I am, choosing practical certainty over a spiritual necessity. I had the needs of others as a top of my priorities for many years. I left myself behind, living my life in misery and struggle, betraying my passion with unfulfilling purposes. I would compare myself to a stranger who travels through life, looking for a dreamland. While on the journey, the traveler struggles a lot goes through hardships, losses, needs, but in the end, she finds something inside which gives her strength, love, and hope. It leads to a land where she may have peace and joy.

Today I am emerging into the art world with a unique style, skillset, and subject matter. I developed my artistic voice to spread a message of hope and inspiration, to awaken people's minds with a better and more fulfilling purpose in life. 

Personal life experiences found reflection in my current project. Patterns of Life explores the challenges in life and their influences on the development of the human soul. I draw inspiration from organic texture and compose my themes giving physical form to a conceptual idea, making the invisible - visible.  

How do you go about beginning a new piece? Do you have an idea already in mind, or do you start working with materials or sketches to find the departure point? 

All current themes were planned in the development stage of my collection. The ideas may be adjusted in time while new experiences influence new pieces. Something like that happened after I experienced someone nearly lose their life from an overdose in my arms. This unspeakable overwhelming experience found reflection in the painting titled "Addiction" - a symbolic representation of dependency expressed in a cycle of repetitive events. The contradictory experiences and compulsive behavior of an addict interfere with controlling intense urges to take a drug. Powerlessness in making the right choice brings a person to an edge between good and evil, life and death. Rising above the darkness embracing the enlightenment - are my biggest hope and greatest desire for any soul exposed to self-destruction. 

Sometimes, I know exactly what theme I will be working on next. Sometimes, I hatch the ideas while contemplating my themes and seek a symbolic representation, to begin with. At some point, it clicked somewhere within, "this is it," I visualize the central element of a composition. And then select the other elements, sketching until I am satisfied. I am often inspired by the texture in nature, which helps me fulfill my visual narrative. I never know what my painting will look like in the end. Magic happens with a brush in my hand - searching for the right tone and texture. One moment I feel like it's done, and the next moment I come up with more ideas to reflect on and keep adding again and again.

When do you think your most prolific time of day or week is? 

I am not a morning person. I often force myself to get some sleep early in the morning. My most active time of the day is evening and half of the night. Twenty-four hours a day is not enough to fulfil my goals.

What is a barrier you as an artist overcame? Is there anything that enabled you to develop your work as an artist in your life? 

I stopped wasting my strength and talent on different careers to gain income. Now, I am entirely focusing on my art career.

My life experiences and challenges enable me to create art. Unfortunately, I have been silent for many years. Now is the time for me to speak to others with understanding and compassion, build bridges, unite, and relate through experiences, thoughts, feelings, and memories that I cannot express in any other way.

Did you have an idea of what you wanted to create right from the beginning? 

Since I planned my themes, I developed each idea with research, thought process, and analysis to bring the duality of experience and inspire a positive solution. Intuitively I select the main element symbolizing the theme and then develop composition to connect other elements representing components of the experience. At the same time, I create an enlightening segment demonstrating that any circumstances have a way out. There is always another choice, and we are free to pick one to make a change.

Other times, I am inspired by a particular texture that I cannot wait to paint. If none of my themes fit into the concept, the interpretation of the texture finds association with a specific experience, so I add a new theme to the series. This is how Challenges was born. So, the process can be different depending on psychological or visual inspiration. 

What is the meaning or creative inspiration for your work? We're curious what the narrative or story is to what you are producing? 

I began drawing as a child, came up with several artworks in my early teenage to cope with personal and family tragic events. Feeling powerless to change anything, all I could have done was express how I feel about. Around that time, I met an artist who introduced me to a metaphysical concept of existence and the human mind. He said something like - the artist must not contribute more pain to a world full of struggle and despair. That was a shocking discovery, 

and it became my personal belief throughout life. Since I couldn't produce anything other than surrealistic fantasies of life and death at that time, I stopped drawing for many years.

A mid-life crisis changed everything, and I have decided to go back to school and study fine arts. When I took a brush into my hand for the first time, magic happened. After all these years, I rejected my gift and denied who I am… Instead, I experienced joy and a sense of serenity. My life transformed, and I stepped into my purpose. I have always believed that speaking from my heart will touch other people's hearts.  

It is a need within me to create, inspire, and uplift the souls struggling with their life choices and experiences. It involves a vision, drive, and planning. Based on my design drawings, I came up with the idea for a collection of 15 paintings and five sculptures, which are still in progress, titled Patterns of Life. I planned themes for each artwork in advance to highlight the most important values and life events that affected my soul. This is my inspiration and motivation to see it through. 

I chose abstract as the most expressive style to create my work. I use lines to reflect feelings; shapes and forms to create emotions, thoughts, and perception; texture to reveal experiences; color tones to add contrast and reinforce a message through design and composition. Every shape has its own meaning and influences viewers' behavior differently. The psychology of art elements creates more meaningful design. My favorites are circles and circular shapes that represent "completeness." A circle is a very simple but powerful element in design. It is a line that never stops and creates a sense of protection, friendship, femineity, community, and perfection. Circle naturally communicates positive emotions and builds a strong visual identity. In my work, it often represents hope. 

Besides your artworks, are there any other things in life that your voice as an artist may consider vital or valuable? What makes you joyful and creative, in other words? 

I still love theater. My first Broadway experience – "Fantom of the Opera," was shocking. I loved everything: music, decorations, effects, costumes, acting, incredible actors' voices. I experienced stage earlier in life and yearned about it for decades until I plunged into visual arts.

I firmly believe in the physical confrontation with the artwork. I like to interact with the original art to observe and appreciate all the subtleties of the strokes and colors and take the time to read an artwork and feel its energy. When I saw Van Gogh's sunflowers at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I frizzed from admiration of the artist's work. Depiction of such simple objects brought an unforgettable experience for me.

I grew up in the world of classical and modern literature. I like history, ancient and metaphysical philosophy, and psychology. Reading a good book is a learning experience, discovery, thought process, and excitement.

Are there any exhibitions or places where people can see these beautiful creations in person soon? Anything on the horizon?

I am preparing my solo exhibition at Spectrum Miami with Redwood Art Group in November 2022. Besides, I received offers from galleries and art groups in US and Europe, but nothing has been established yet. So, if you are in New York, welcome to visit my studio and experience the work in person. 

Website: https://irinahoward.com