When Irma Dorokhova walked in the door for her interview, I immediately felt I already knew her by her joyful, exuberant energy and bright colors. Some people are different from their art; Irma is one of those magical creative forces whose physical existence embodies her art, and that is how she paints.
Irma admitted that my response was pretty accurate. “I am like that inside. It’s probably my desire to live. I like to live, to feel wonderful, as if I were born yesterday. When I paint, I give myself to my art: I put on headphones and listen to beautiful music, and I sleep only fours at night – I want to finish while my inspiration is still alive. I don’t answer phone calls, and I even sleep in a separate bed from my husband; I just don’t want to deal with everyday life.”
For example, during the two weeks it took Irma to create her extraordinary blue The Moose Brings Luck, 60”x36”, she painted day and night. She felt, she said, "like a monk."
Almost from infancy Irina Dorokhova, called by her parents Irma as a sign of affection and her Jewish identity, seemed like an international work of art herself and with her
luminescent beauty resembled a famous Polish actress Barbara Brylska. She was born in Uzbekistan, lived and worked in Kazakstan, Russia, Ukraine, Belorussia and Tatarstan. Irma began painting when she was five; she began work as an artist when she was 16. From childhood, Irma believed in and proceeded on the theory that everything is possible.
She worked at a stone quarry, designed signage, created stencils for industrial applications, baked cakes and worked as a hairdresser – in each case, she was following, perhaps unconsciously, her love of color. When Irma arrived in Los Angeles in 2010, she decided to devote herself totally to painting. It would be her dream come true.
By Laurence Vittes
