Irina Daylene comes from Moscow, she's of American-Russian background, known for their centuries long and strong artistic tradition. In her youth, she spent summer vacations at the family retreat, there, immersed in the nurturing and artistic atmosphere of the colony of Peredelkino, is where she first discovers her passion for drawing, happily exploring ideas and places, in the company of her pencils, brushes and paper.
Since childhood, she's always been naturally drawn to the art world and visual self-expression. A well-known family friend, a renown portrait painter of the day, Sergei Gregoriev, encouraged her to look deeply into her subject matter, to try to find the essence of what she portrays. She continues to treasure his wisdom and loving advice to this day.
Irina and her family arrived in the US from the former U.S.S.R. and settled in Los Angeles, California where she continues to pursue her dreams of painting, and sculpting, drawing inspiration from her extensive travels around the world. Irina began to formally exhibit her work in October of 2011 at the Venice Bienale Art Show.
She has participated in numerous juried and solo exhibitions around the world. Her sculptures have won several international awards. Irina's work has gained praise and international recognition, she is a member of the exclusive International Artist's Guild in Moscow.
She has also been a part of the "Automobilart" show, traveling worldwide from 2012 through 2015, featuring many renown artists. In the last year, her work has been showcased in numerous and prestigious International Art Fairs and galleries in the United States, Canada and Europe.
Several newspaper articles and television programs have featured and written about Daylene's work in the past year. Her sculptures are in the prominent collections of private investors.
Sumo Wrestlers In Merry Moods
Throughout her life, Irina's main and most important source of joy and inspirations are her travels, which have blessed her with many interesting, meaningful and unexpected encounters that always leave her with a powerful desire, a need really to capture and express her feelings about such encounters through her work.
While visiting Japan, she became fascinated by the people and the culture. While attending a Sumo Match she wondered what life must be like outside the arena for Sumo wrestlers. Theses imposing men live a very austere and disciplined life, with many years of rigorous training
in order to attain the level of mastery required to survive and excel in a sport that is as brutal and physically demanding as it is an art form revered in their culture.
Irina understood that and saw a kinder, joyful side, one not obvious to most of us, she saw a playfulness, wondering if they wouldn't like to have some play time and fun like the rest of us do, enjoying simple things like skating, surfing, riding in a convertible, or playing leap frog.
In Irina's Sumo sculptures she reverses the usual assumptions, instead, we see these exceptionally strong , overpowering and intimidating figures being child-like and having a blast! She makes them not only relatable but she unveils their hidden innocence and kindness.