Floral works of Ukrainian artist Ira Volkova give viewers a feeling that they are looking at a flower under a magnifying glass. By paying a great amount of attention to detail, she manages to make every part of the flower, from petals to small pollen tubes and stamens, look so lifelike that you will almost want to approach them and touch them to be sure they are not real.
Volkova is a classically trained artist who has been inspired by nature for the most part of her career. Her creative practice saw her turn to various subjects from nature in the past, but recently, her main focus has been hyper-realistic large-scale floral paintings.
A wide range of flower species are represented in Volkova’s paintings, but her favorite is peony due to its large and rich blossoms and soothing pastel colors.
“I’m inspired by nature in its endless variety,” she shared in a recent chat with Thursd. “Even the most common object changes when you try to draw it. I love the large format of canvases. They allow people to show much more than they are used to seeing. On my canvases, a whole macrocosm of petals, the play of light and shadows, and sun glare are deployed.”
If you want to check out more of Volkova’s floral paintings, continue scrolling below.
