My name is Irene Zilou, native Greek and passionate for life. I was born and raised up in Athens GR. Most people know me by my modeling persona Zirconia Starfighter since 2000 when I started modeling, mostly for my love for art and also, for earning money in order to get more independent. Although I love modeling, my main job as a graphic designer and retoucher is what I always did and still do for my living. So, for those who don't know anything about my daily life, routine and studies, I graduated from Vakalo School of Art & Design with BA (Bachelor Degree) and MA (Master Degree) from the University of Derby (UK) close to February 2003. Graphic Design is my main source of expression and my profession as well today.

I am very into music; my love for it and an amazingly huge record collection put me into the "virus" of listening (and editing) from my childhood. This resulted to my cooperation as an editor and digital photographer with the Bloodcult Zine, one of the biggest magazines in Greece, related to black metal, gothic, electro, industrial, EBM, noise music and generally to the dark alternative scene. It is not the typical kind of music magazine as it covers all possible dark arts and lifestyles. Hope you enjoy reading my articles.

Most of the graphic works on here are officially published and all the "imaginary" work was done during my studies on Art & Design, in order to have some examples of what I would like to do in the future. You can always check me out for references and cooperations. Some of my works I adore and some others might be things I was asked to do for clients. In cases like these, I am a Graphic Designer and not an artist. If you wanna know more about my PW skills (Photoshop Wizard for those who don't know the abbreviations), I mostly prefer to upload the result of each retouche and not the original pictures. I keep strict secrecy with the models, photographers, artists etc. who are in need of my PW skills, I respect their decisions. I love my job, I hate stagnation and waisting my time. I always try to come up with new ideas.

I attended lessons on vocals and piano at the Athenaeum for four years. At the age of 19 I sang for some bands. Later, I left vocals for other important activities. I still like singing and practicing many different kinds of hobbies such as sculpture and ready-mades. I create characters using either my imagination or mythological influences and I put this creativity in my modeling activities too. As a model, I love fashion design & designers. I intend to give edgy and unique presence to any event, pose or fashion show. In photo-shootings I love to be as unique as possible. I get inspired by dreamy landscapes, abandoned places and futuristic compositions. As a go-go girl (freestyle dancer), angle-grinder performer and show-girl, I love and live to dance and losing myself into "industrial for the masses". I have participated in some very important festivals, cooperated with international artists, bands and dj's in Greece & around Europe. There is a separated bio about my activity here.

Since most of you are asking me what "Zirconia" means; it's the nickname I used from my childhood in most of the sites I was in (you might had met me as Tanya Treed too) and I decided to keep it like this for ever. This kind of "alter ego" -instead of my favorite gem- was a monster in Sailor Moon anime series without specified sex which absorbed energy. If you want to know more about me, I speak in english, french and some italian. I love traveling. Feel free to visit me on MySpace and become friends, follow me on Twitter or contact me here. Welcome to my world.