Biography

Dr Irina Bradley is a prominent iconographer based in the UK. Her icons are in Australia, Europe, Japan and the USA. She graduated with a doctorate from the Prince's School of Traditional Arts in 2015. Her dissertation is called Spiritual Striving in Icon Painting and Irina is currently working on a documentary related to it. Irina has taught at the Prince's School of Traditional Arts (now the King's Foundation School of Traditional Arts) for 15 years, both to MA students and the public. She has given numerous lectures on icons in prestigious locations, including Oxford and Cambridge. Irina's icons have been exhibited in numerous locations in the UK, including Buckingham Palace and the Saatchi Gallery. Her work was featured in UK and in US documentaries including Songs of Praise on BBC and Artful by Monument TV. She is currently working on a documentary Riding with Saint George. It features the process of creating icons and the spiritual journey of the artist.

Icon painting is a spiritual journey for Irina; she started painting icons after she was diagnosed with aggressive cancer when she was young. For her it always has been a prayer. She believes that a tutor of this sacred art holds a responsibility for every icon her students paint to ensure that their icons conform to tradition and are of the highest quality.

Irina uses the finest materials in her work, including natural earth, lake and mineral pigments and 24 carat gold leaf. These pigments give an incredible luminosity to icons. Irina studied the pigments used in icon painting for many years and she is currently working on a book on pigments.

You can find out more about Irina’s art practice by watching the following interview:

Website: https://www.irinabradley.com