| Irina Malkmus |
Hello my name is Irina Malkmus.
I was born in the city of Kharkov in the former USSR,what is now known as Ukraine..
When I was young I often visited my grandmother in Crimea. After lunch I would sit down at the dining room table and draw what I had seen that morning,or what I was thinking about .Unfortunately this wonderful ritual ended when I started school. At school I would draw doodles in the margins of my textbooks to help me remember the lessons. After school I wanted to study at the art institute,but those were difficult years in my country and my mother urged me to take a more practical career path.I graduated from medical college and became a nurse.
I worked at a home for abandoned infants.This made a deep impression on me.This spurred me to want to help society but from a different approach.I then went to university and studied pscychology.While studying I had different jobs to support myself.The one I enjoyed most was applying permanent makeup using a technique of tattooing
During the end of my studies at university I met my future husband, and a year later we moved to America.Here I returned to my passion for art. I took some classes at California Colleges. The birth of my twin daughters put a pause to my artistic pursuits,but soon I was back on my path .
Currently I am work in my studio at home.
I haven't committed yet to a specific art media.
To express myself I use different mediums,for example;acrylic,oil,mixed media, 3-d, wool felting, pewter and jewelry.
My dream is to be seen, heard and understood. My concept art is a reflection of what is happening through the prism of feminism.