The breath of the ocean, 2026

Irina Shumskaya  

Irina Shumskaya is a contemporary artist whose practice combines abstract painting with a distinctive visual language of line, rhythm and symbolism. Working with oil, acrylic and gel pen, she creates expressive compositions where colour, form and intricate details become a means of exploring emotions and inner experience.

Her paintings move between abstraction and recognisable imagery, with feminine figures, florals, chess and symbolic forms appearing as recurring motifs. These elements are transformed into personal visual narratives, where every line and detail carries an emotional or symbolic resonance.

At the heart of Shumskaya's practice is the idea of creation as a fundamental human value. Her works explore harmony, energy, balance and the relationship between the visible world and the inner self. Rather than simply depicting a subject, she builds layered visual worlds that invite the viewer to pause, look closer and discover their own interpretation.

Shumskaya is interested in the emotional power of colour and the expressive potential of form. Her paintings can create an immediate visual connection while revealing new meanings through closer observation. This combination of visual impact and symbolic depth allows her works to become both a strong presence within an interior and a personal object of contemplation.

A graduate of the Moscow College of Decorative and Applied Arts and Sholokhov Moscow State University, Shumskaya has exhibited extensively in Russia and internationally, including projects connected with the Louvre, the Venice Biennale, Central House of Artists, Kashirka Gallery and the “Revolution" exhibition in Cuba. She is a laureate of international and national art exhibitions and an ambassador of Art of the 21st Century and Anturage.