Clay Portrait Paintings

Irina Zaytceva was born in Moscow in 1957. As a child, she loved to draw and sculpt and eventually decided to make it her vocation. She graduated from Moscow Art Institute ( Poljgrapfichesky) with an MFA in book illustration. Having illustrated a number of children books, she found porcelain by chance; a friend had given her a piece of clay, which prompted her to experiment with the new media and fell in love with it. Fine porcelain is a perfect canvas for her drawings, and with the ability to bend her “canvas,” she can add sculptural elements to the picture. Someone called this hybrid media narrative sculpture, a term Irina thinks aptly describes her work. Never formally trained in ceramics, Irina had to invent ways to handle it. Unlike many of her colleagues who paint with oil based colors, she uses water based colors and has developed her own techniques in this media. She does not use casting but hand rolls her vases, cups, and, sculptures. With every piece porcelain yields its secrets to her. Since 1998, Irina resides in USA and presently have her studio near Princeton, New Jersey. Monarch Butterfly Cup...