Irina Howard

Biography

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 significant 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.

Artist Statement

Making art to me is a profound process of personal discovery and development. My work manifests beauty and seeks the inner creative significance to reach those who appreciate classical ideals while still being inspired by contemporary ways of speaking about human values.

I am fascinated by forms and textures existing in nature and am compelled to express their meaning, unique purpose, and beauty in connection to human experiences through my work. With its dynamic expression and energy, visual language interpretation brings intellectual stimulation and develops an emotional response. In addition, the creative use of symbols illustrates visual metaphors and offers an insight into an idea or a concept.

My processes combine thoughtful, conscious decision-making and spontaneous, intuitive solutions to create compositions. Recognizing the psychological influence of elements and generating visual narrative revealing the invisible within the visible and its emotional link to human experiences helps me develop aesthetically pleasing, meaningful artworks. Each of them is a deliberate effort to communicate viewpoints originating from moments of self-discovery. Something happens on the canvas that is beyond my conscious choices.

I chose abstract as the most expressive style. I use lines to create feelings; shapes and forms to reflect on emotions, thoughts, and perception; texture to reveal experiences; color tones to add contrast and reinforce a message through design and composition. The psychology of art elements imparts more meaningful design, which influences viewers' responses differently. My favorites are circles and curved lines. I found them simple but, at the same time, very compelling. The circle is a line that never stops, represents "completeness," and gives a sense of protection, friendship, femineity, community, perfection. It naturally communicates positive emotions and builds a strong visual identity. In my work, a circle often symbolizes hope.

My favorite medium is oil paint because it provides an expressive ability and flexibility to create and achieve extraordinary results. For sculpture, I enjoy working with clay. I also use sculpted metal wires, mesh wire, modeling compounds, and other materials to explore different textures.

My body of work expresses personal experiences, thoughts, spirituality, feelings, and philosophy in life. I believe in an awakened mind and a soul's purpose. Therefore, I always strive to inspire hope and encourage positivity.

Country USA

Website https://irinahoward.com