Irina Cumberland

Clear Lake IV-original realism water patterns oil painting-contemporary ART

2023

Irina Cumberland specializes in ocean and fractal patterns painting. Irina was born in Ukraine and is currently living and working in the US. Irina has developed a painting style to highlight Natural Fractal Patterns and colors on canvas. Each painting is specifically designed to maximize the calming effects of shapes, colors and scenery. Being medically trained Irina discovered that there was a growing interest in the calming effects of fractal patterns among scientists. A 1986 NASA study demonstrated that participants who viewed images consisting of fractal patterns of nature experienced a 44% decrease in physical stress response. These Fractal Patterns such as snowflakes, trees, and waves repeats itself infinitely across different scales and sizes. This has now become Irina's main focus in Art. Cumberland states, "I watched the ocean’s steady movement in and out, the glittering light dancing on the surface, the tiny rainbows reflecting off the sand – lulling me into a peace that I’d never experienced before. As we have moved away from nature and into skyscrapers and concrete jungles, we have inadvertently removed ourselves from what calms and comforts us, and have instead surrounded ourselves with shapes and images that increase our stress response. This is important, considering that in our culture we are surrounded by such artificial geometric patterns: in our architecture and sometimes in the abstract art we hang on our walls."