Born in Kharkov, Ukraine, Irina showed an aptitude for drawing and painting at an early age and took formal training at Kharkov Fine Art Institute from which she graduated with flying colours. In 1994, she moved to St. Petersburg in order to further her education at the Academy of Fine Art.

In 1998 she moved to the United States in order to learn English and American culture. Able to present her work to a wider audience Irina was met with increasing success, and now exhibits widely in galleries all over the United States, as well as being included in many prominent corporate and private collections all over the world.