IRiNA SHARK

"Being a contemporary figurative sculptor I am an impressionistic and expressionistic sculptor. I am looking for strong emotional presence in my work, something I see and sense from the people I meet and I want to convey this strong emotional impact it has on me, an inner beauty, a strength. Usually the first stages of work, this is where the energy of creation is the strongest, things start to emerge but the multitude of possibilities is still here. I want to preserve it, I want people to feel this energy through the bronze. I don't want to hide all these marks of creation under the perfection of the surface and of the form.“

“My sculptures are very personal, there is a lot of me in each sculpture. It's always about our vision of life, of the universe, to me artists are just filters, the idea is always to show something universal but through my own filter.

My energy can be seen in my sculptures, it's all there.  I work fast, I want to capture a presence, an emotion.  I work a lot with my hands, some knives; it's okay not to finish a piece, leave a part of mystery, leave the imagination go free and imagine things. My inspirations are in the 19th and 20th century sculpture, mostly impressionist but also symbolist and stylized Art deco sculpture. I am a big admirer of Troubetzkoy, Medardo Rosso, Manzu, Bourdelle, Giacometti...”

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“What is interesting in is the moment of creation itself, what happens in the studio between the artist and his creation, how do I handle this energy, but also all the struggle, the frustration, the deception. An artist has to deal with all these emotions while creating and to me it's all about that. It's not about what kind of artwork I want to produce, of course I always start with an idea, a concept that I want to express, but all the struggle and beauty happens while I am working and the result will depend on how I as an artist will interact with all this energy. This is the most beautiful thing in being an artist to me. “

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