Frozen Spring

“In the depths of winter, I found within me an invincible summer.” – Albert Camus

Inspired by 2015’s polar vortex, Zina Zinchik’s new series, Frozen Spring, is a solemn but optimistic reminder of the innate, immortal state of living. These photographs imply that this, somehow, is her flowers’ authentic identity – that some essential quality is preserved through their death and resurrection.

Moved by the simple, unadulterated beauty of nature, Zinchik cites Monet’s waterlilies as a large influence for her work. The viewer will also be reminded of the keen, scientific eye of Weston and the vibrancy of O’Keefe, but by locating her subjects at a distance, and under a frigid distortion of ice, these experiences become specifically located in a decidedly different climate. On the surface, these sensitive images seem to be of flowers, but a steady gaze reveals that the ice is the focus, stretching out with crystalline fingers beyond the petals it surrounds.