Artist in conversation: Irina Metz
“The viewer of my art is invited to embrace all sides of reality and yet to pay attention to small instants of natural Beauty and Peace”
Irina Metz is a remarkable artist whose work is a captivating exploration of the world's transformation from self-destruction to re-creation. Irina's paintings are a testament to humanity's conscious pursuit of happiness during turbulent times.
Drawing inspiration from the fundamentals of impressionism, Irina captures fleeting emotions, memories, and dreams in her work. She employs both oil and acrylic mediums to create vivid, full-bodied images that tie her art to historical traditions. Her abstract pieces serve as an important complement to the overall concept, reflecting deeper feelings and emotions evoked by the world.
Irina's unique artistic approach combines eternal and modern elements, making the pursuit of happiness a key to achieving inner and outer balance. Her hope is that her paintings will help others navigate through turbulent times and encourage them to cherish moments of joy, beauty, and life.
Irina studied oil painting under renowned contemporary impressionists, including Svetlana and Federico Perotti, Igor Raevich, Grigory Kuznetsov, and Olga Kurilova. Their techniques for capturing elusive moments of beauty and joy have heavily influenced Irina's work. Her art reflects decades of intercultural studies carried out during her global travels and while working on her PhD in Philology. The pursuit and perception of happiness have always been central themes in her research and naturally find expression in her artwork.
What initially inspired you to become an artist, and how did you develop your unique style?
My art is largely inspired by my travels around the world. Through encounters with other cultures, contemplation of nature and people in different parts of our beautiful planet, I am looking for universal links uniting souls in pursue of Happiness. For a long time I have been studying the problematics of identity and communication in international literature, psychology and philosophy. My art reflects the process and results of my research, I am portraying innate codes of Happiness that can be understood by most people on Earth. My artistic style is based on traditions of impressionists, however I keep exploring modern techniques combining abstract with figurative painting and collage, oil with acrylic as mediums.
In terms of subject matter, what themes or motifs do you frequently explore in your work, and what draws you to these topics?
The main characters of my art are Sunlight and Bluebird of Happiness. I keep turning to them in all my works while depicting the moments of joy and elusive state of inner balance. I am fascinated by the sunlight, the way it lights up the colors of the day and plays upon the evening hues. It allows me to appreciate even gloomy rainy hours,giving hope for a brighter day to come.
The metaphor of Bluebird as a metamodernist image engages the process of transformation. Its symbolic meaning that has been accumulated through centuries stays meaningful in modern times. A bird with blue feathers is seen as harbinger of Happiness and Hope in pantheons of ancient and contemporary cultures including Chinese Dynasties, Native American tribes, modern music, literature. People keep chasing the Bluebird and its vibes in elusive moments of our daily life and I am trying to show a way to meet it.
How do you navigate the balance between self-destruction and re-creation as a way towards conscious Happiness?
Most world cultures admit importance of balance between darkness and light, yin and yang, joys and sorrows. One hardly exists without the other. I am neither escaping from life tensions, nor ignoring them. The viewer of my art is invited to embrace all sides of reality and yet to pay attention to small instants of natural Beauty and Peace that can be found everywhere around us. Between incredible speeds of daily happenings and overwhelming flow of all kinds of information I find it important to halt for a second and give a thought on one’s true values that stay with us forever. Contemplations on the very essence of Happiness lead me on the way towards self-identification in modern controversial world. This way will be unique for each person, so my task as an artist is not to guide the viewer, but rather suggest to consider which direction to follow.
Can you discuss a specific piece or project that challenged you as an artist, and how you overcome those challenges?
Right now I am working on my personal exhibition “Under The Bluebird Skies”. Its main challenge was to say everything that I want to share with the audience, yet to make my message clear, comprehensive and understandable. The solution has been inspired by the concept of monomyth developed by Joseph Campbell. The project of the exhibition is based on the hero’s journey that includes circular composition, elements of storytelling between the paintings and method of antithesis between seemingly similar messages.
How do you incorporate feedback from critics and audiences into your artistic practice, and how do you balance this feedback with your own artistic intuition?
My favorite part of artistic life is seeing real people watching my art on an exhibition. Their reaction is my main criterium. It is absolutely fascinating how each person finds something different in the same paintings, how people are making their preferences between several works, what captures their eyes and arouses questions or emotions. I am open and very attentive to the feedback of my audience and critics. At the same time I am conscious of the fact that opinions of different people can be absolutely controversial, so I am always very careful to incorporate any “enhancement” suggestions. I am striving to stick to consistency and sustainability on my work without disturbing my general artistic approach and my own development strategy.
How do you stay connected with other artists and keep up with new developments and trends in the art world?
It is impossible to overestimate importance of regular interaction with like-minded people especially in the art world. It turns out to be an endless source of inspiration, practical advice and healthy criticism. As an artist I belong to an amazing community of outstanding creators from all over the world. Modern technologies allow us to stay connected despite living on different continents and in different time zones. In “Art Club - Laboratory Of Contemporary Art” created by art critic, culturologist, art curator and vice president of Institute of the Mediterranean Culture Julia Sysalova we exchange the most recent news and trends, share overviews of the art shows that we visit, support each other and develop ideas for new works. All of my fellow artists in the club have graduated from Julia’s Art Communication School, so despite having very diverse artistic paths we all share the same background knowledge. It creates very supportive environment full of positive vibes and extensive insights.
How do you stay motivated and inspired despite any setbacks or creative blocks you may encounter?
Creative pauses, as I call them, are my perfect time to recharge on the one hand and catch up on pending technical routine of artist’s life on the other hand. I see it as a good opportunity to analyze what has been done and what can be done better in future, to look through other artists’ works and techniques, to learn new things. Whenever I feel inspiration and new ideas keep flowing through my head, I make sure to write them down on small note pads in my kitchen, on my bedside table, in my car and in my purse. When time comes for a new creative boost I am reading through them and they always help.
How do you feel about exhibiting your artworks with The Holy Art Gallery?
The Holy Art Gallery was recommended to me as a perfect location to present my art remotely to expert audience and experienced art-lovers. The digital format of displaying my works in the cities of London and Athens simultaneously is a perfect example of merging modern technologies with traditional gallerist’s approach allowing the visitors to make themselves familiar with the works of artists from other countries. I feel very excited for my works to be featured among other talented artists. As I won’t be able to come to the exhibitions myself the only thing that I might miss this time is receiving live feedback from the viewers. I will be looking forward to the gallery’s coverage and hope to see the audience’s reaction to my paintings at least through the photos.
Looking ahead, what are your long-term goals and aspirations as an artist, and how do you plan to achieve them?
My utmost desire is to become an artist whose voice would be heard. I feel that art in general is a powerful tool that can influence human mindset. The more beauty a person sees, the more it feels important to protect it and pass the message of happiness to other people. I wish my art helps all of us to live through the turbulent times that we are facing now, learn absolute unconditional love, find our inner selves, recognize and meet our Bluebirds of Happiness.