II, 2017, from TOTALITARIAN Drawing

Growing up in the Soviet Union, Irina Birger experienced the powerful mechanisms of propaganda that repress independent thought and inquiry. Its methods were not just practical, but also extremely visual. Social Realist style and Stalinist Imperial architecture greatly influenced her artistic development. Their monumental arrangements inspire admiration, humility and wonder, similar to the visual impact of the Russian Orthodox Church and other sacred formations. As a result, she is strongly interested in the visual strategies and formal principles of different religions, cults and totalitarian regimes, and incorporate them in her work. Central symmetry, patterns, slogans and monumental approach appear in her drawings, installations and animations. Birger's visual language takes its cue from patterns and structures in science, myth, astrology, pop-culture, news articles, everyday objects and personal items. She selects, isolates, arranges and reconnects them. Each work is a mini universe with its own system. Spending most of time in her studio, she always focused on drawing as her major medium. In the last few years Birger started to use drawing as a site-specific part of an installation, in performances, and as elements in the public space and in animations.