Iris Gonzalez has always had a fascination with paintings from the seventeenth century. As a small child she was captivated by the beauty of the detailed images and the stately atmosphere. The images of bowls of fruit, richly filled bouquets and the refinement of lace, pearls and silver made a deep impression on her. Everything was so beautifully depicted and detailed down to the smallest detail.
With her work she pays tribute to the old masters. She tries to create the effect of a painting with her photography and pays attention to every detail, just like in the paintings of the old masters. Just as the old masters captured the light, colors and structures with every brushstroke, Iris does this in her photography. In her work she bridges the gap between the present and the past. From a painting from the seventeenth century to a contemporary medium, photography.
Flowers are also a central theme in Iris Gonzalez's photography. She sees them as the beauty of nature, where their fragility and transience are precisely what attracts her. She strives to capture the moment when a bouquet is at its most beautiful. She likes to experiment with this moment of perfection in her work. "When is a flower at its most beautiful?" she wonders.
“I am enchanted by this,” Iris adds, “the beauty that nature creates, that sometimes the petals seem already painted. It is almost as if they are already a work of art in themselves before I capture them with my camera.”
