Vitaliya Repina is an optical mixed media artist and educator based in the Tampa Bay area. Working with reflective materials, metallic paints, and geometric patterning, she creates illustrations and paintings that shift with light and perspective, often blending the two. Her signature fractal-based compositions draw from organic tessellation systems found in nature—structures that repeat, expand, and interconnect—forming visual illusions that bridge environment and perception.
Originally an Eastern European immigrant, Vita’s practice is shaped by themes of belonging and transformation within changing landscapes and identities. She is drawn to the natural world for its capacity to heal, restore, and connect people. In addition to her studio practice, she frequently performs as a live painter and works as an educator and environmental professional.
Statement
My work exists at the intersection of reflection. Through mirrored surfaces, metallic textures, and geometric systems, I create compositions that respond to light and movement, inviting viewers to shift between observation and participation.
Inspired by fractal design and organic tessellation, my visual language echoes patterns found in nature - systems that repeat, expand, and connect across scales. These structures become a bridge between external environments and internal experience, where perception transforms into awareness.
As an immigrant and artist, my practice is inspired by questions of belonging: how we locate ourselves within new spaces, communities, and evolving identities. The reflective elements in my work act as both material and metaphor, encouraging viewers to recognize their presence within the artwork and the surrounding world.
Through live painting, public art, and educational engagement, I extend this dialogue beyond the studio into shared space and real time. My work becomes a collective moment, an exchange.
Ultimately, I create to explore how perception shapes existence. The way we see influences how we move through the world. At its core, my practice is about connection: to space, to others, and to self through the act of seeing and being seen.