Irina Zelenina graduated from the State Academic Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Repin, the former Imperial Academy of Arts, founded in St. Petersburg in 1757 during the reign of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. Today the Institute remains a citadel of the traditions of classical European art in Russia. In the academic system of education, portrait painting is the main genre and a mandatory skill in the arsenal of a novice artist. Nevertheless, the content and execution of Zeleninsky's "Self-portrait" does not allow us to attribute it to student work. To begin with, the artist's very natural expression, not at all contrived, conveys her youthful nature and contrasts with the black background. Then, the composition and the turn of the head creates the impression that the young girl is not in the studio of a contemporary artist, but in a "historical picture" from the Renaissance period. There are no details in the self-portrait that would speak about her life and interests, there is only a clear intention to study herself. The only thing that reveals belonging to the modern world is the hairstyle and headdress. The square space creates tension, giving us the impression that the young artist is face to face in front of the inner world in an attempt to understand herself and her destiny. So personally and at the same time so characteristic of her creative profession.Self-portrait at all times has been a mirror of the artist's soul, we find an analysis of ourselves in Raphael, Durer, Rembrandt, Malevich, Repin. This practice does not cease to be relevant today
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