Irina Fyodorova I was born in Bashkiria in 1982, in 1983 my family moved to Engels. I’ve been engaged in art since childhood; in 1990-1994 I went to an art school, in 1995-1997 studied sculpture in K.A.Matveeva’s studio, in 2000-2001 attended courses at Saratov Art College named after Bogolyubov, in 2001-2002 attended M.G.Gamayunova’s workshops. Marina Glebovna Gamayunova is my favorite teacher. Friends, artists and designers, such as Elena and Maria Gubar, Alina Belousova are also very important. In 2004 I graduated from the philological faculty of Saratov State University named after Tchernyshevsky. I had different artists among my favorite ones at various times, for instance, Salvador Dali, Van Gogh, Cezanne, Aubrey Beardsley, Hokusai, Albrecht Durer, Jheronimus Bosch, Gauguin. Art for me is a way of thinking. I’d rather say that it’s a way of thinking about reality, a search of how it can be explained, an attempt to build a bridge between reality and yourself, between an outer and inner side of yourself. Art is something inherent, an essential condition of being. A spiritual search, a mental journey. I’ve illustrated several books and in general I feel satisfied with both the result and process. Book illustrations are a great way to start conversation with the author as well as with the viewer. To some extent illustrations are a bridge between the inner world of a book (namely the text) and the outer world (that is a man, holding the book in his hands). Therefore, I like building such bridges. In the period from 1999 to the present there’ve been created around 2500 graphic works (by the most conservative estimate). I conditionally distinguish different series of works, as art for me is also a way of intuitive exploration of the world. | 
