Local Arts

This artist has much to say about gender roles. You can see it in her latest paintings

By Vanessa Infanzon Arts Correspondent
This is the first painting in Irisol Gonzalez’s “Machismo” series. She says it depicts the absurdity in the male/female relationship in machismo culture. The title is “His Needs.”
This is the first painting in Irisol Gonzalez’s “Machismo” series. She says it depicts the absurdity in the male/female relationship in machismo culture. The title is “His Needs.” Irisol Gonzalez

Irisol Gonzalez never really liked her financial services career. Shortly after spending five hours on an art-themed team building assignment in 2015, she quit and became an artist.

Gonzalez. 30, always felt pulled toward art but also felt pressure as a first-generation college student to pursue something else. Soon after quitting her Charlotte job she left for her native country, Costa Rica, to build an art portfolio.

Four paintings from her latest series “Machismo” will be on display at Camp North End on March 21 as part of the Cine Casual Film Series. She’ll lead a conversation about sexism in Latin America following the 6 p.m. showing of “El despertar de las hormigas (The Awakening of the Ants).”

“It is a simple, yet powerful film about everyday life,” said Giovanna Torres, who founded the film series. “It basically portrays a silent revolution against a very bold machismo.”

Gonzalez said the four pieces she chose to display “are all in the perspective that women are the ones maintaining and propagating machismo in our culture – the way we’re teaching our girls and the way we’re teaching our boys.”

Irisol Gonzalez always felt pulled toward art, but says she also felt pressure as a first-generation college student to pursue something else. Now, she pursues art full-time.
Irisol Gonzalez always felt pulled toward art, but says she also felt pressure as a first-generation college student to pursue something else. Now, she pursues art full-time. Chad Cartwright aka CHD:WCK!

Gender roles

Gonzalez’s discussions with other women about gender roles, subservience and accountability led to introspection: What was her machismo? How had these expectations become the cultural norm? How does she contribute to machismo?

She hopes this series promotes reflection in other women, helping them understand their role in machismo.

“His Needs” was the first piece Gonzalez completed in the series. It shows a woman serving a man a meal. Upon closer inspection, there are watches on the plate – she’s serving time, said Gonzalez.

The halo around the man’s head is ornate, while the woman’s halo is plain. Her face is blocked out. The red colonial curtains represent theater or an act, reminding viewers of the absurdity of the situation.

“I’ve been working on it (“Machismo”) for a year,” Gonzalez said. “I started thinking about emotions, thinking about jealousy. What does jealousy mean? What is envy? Then somehow I came to the conclusion that the way that I felt about other women and the things that threaten me came from a sense of being replaced and that was coming from a place of machismo and fear that has been embedded in my culture.”

Irisol Gonzalez says her “Racimo” painting questions what developing nations export and what they keep for their own people. In U.S. grocery stores bananas rarely have marks on them, she says, but in Latin America it’s rare for bananas not to have marks.
Irisol Gonzalez says her “Racimo” painting questions what developing nations export and what they keep for their own people. In U.S. grocery stores bananas rarely have marks on them, she says, but in Latin America it’s rare for bananas not to have marks. Irisol Gonzalez

ArtPop success

Her family immigrated from Costa Rica 20 years ago, when she was 10. She attended Newton-Conover City Schools and struggled with English at first.

Her art teacher, Reilly Walker Yount, connected with her through an assignment. He gave her his set of Prismacolor colored pencils to recreate artist Sharyn Davis’ drawing of a parrot from a book. She did such a great job on the piece, Yount gave her the pencils to keep.

They’ve traveled with her to Costa Rica and Spain and are prominent at her studio at C3 Lab in South End.

This Irisol Gonzalez work is titled “Flower World.” She says its message is: The world is just one big beautiful garden.
This Irisol Gonzalez work is titled “Flower World.” She says its message is: The world is just one big beautiful garden. Irisol Gonzalez

Gonzalez plans to pursue a master of fine arts, but in the meantime she continues to build her portfolio through local programs. She juried into the 2019 ArtPop Street Gallery class. Being part of the program propelled her career. She’s had more public and private commissions because of her participation.

“You get people from all over seeing your work,” she said. “It helped me to get my name out there as a serious artist. It gave me work – a lot of work.”

This is the mural Irisol Gonzalez painted during her 8-week Meta Mural Residency. It’s on the wall outside Palmer St. Arcade in Charlotte’s Gold District. Gonzalez says it depicts the intersection of tropical and North American natural scenes. .
This is the mural Irisol Gonzalez painted during her 8-week Meta Mural Residency. It’s on the wall outside Palmer St. Arcade in Charlotte’s Gold District. Gonzalez says it depicts the intersection of tropical and North American natural scenes. . Irisol Gonzalez

Stretching her skills

Brand the Moth’s panel of judges chose Gonzalez for its eight-week inaugural Meta Mural Residency in August. She participated in classes, worked along side other artists, and stretched her skills.

She completed a mural at Palmer St. Arcade in the Gold District, near South End, during her residency.

“She took the program very seriously and with great intention,” said Sam Guzzie, founder and program director of Brand the Moth. “With transition comes frustration, and I know she felt that too, but she faced the challenges head-on and came out the other side with a beautiful portfolio piece that she should be proud of. In her final work I think we see Irisol. There is an Easter egg (hidden object), nod to the owner of the building, which speaks again to her dedication to community.”

This is “The Condition of Latin America” by Irisol Gonzalez. She said it depicts the exploitation of Latin America by imperialist nations in history and today.
This is “The Condition of Latin America” by Irisol Gonzalez. She said it depicts the exploitation of Latin America by imperialist nations in history and today. Irisol Gonzalez

Telling a story

Details are at the center of Gonzalez’s work – “Machismo” is no exception. If you miss those details, you don’t understand the story, she said. She wants viewers to interpret the works for themselves, reflecting on their own circumstances and beliefs. She knows her work will be controversial.

“Men are going to be angry and I think women are going to be really angry,” Gonzalez said. “Because in machismo, when you have the conversation of sexism, you always think of women as being the victims. In this circumstance, I’m making (women) an accomplice and nobody likes to hear that.”

Cine Casual Film Festival

What: View the 94-minute film “El despertar de las hormigas (The Awakening of the Ants)” and see four pieces from Irisol Gonzalez’s “Machismo” series that will be on display. A conversation about sexism in Latin America follows the film.

When: 6 p.m. March 21

Where: Camp North End, adjacent to the Boileryard, 1824 Statesville Ave.

Cost: $5

Details: https://cinecasual.com/filmseries/

More arts coverage

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This story was originally published March 11, 2020 at 10:03 AM.

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