AMALIA IRONS

Amalia Irons observes the world with the eyes of someone who knows that every moment holds a silent story. Her videos are mirrors reflecting hidden emotions, suspended memories, and fleeting moments often overlooked. From Los Angeles, amid the warm light of dusk and the city’s pulse, Amalia constructs universes where intimacy and beauty intertwine, inviting viewers to pause, breathe, and feel. Her work doesn’t just capture images—it captures the essence of what it means to be human: fragile, curious, and deeply connected to the emotions that move us.

S.N. When you think back to your earliest encounters with image or art, is there a moment that still resonates with you, a moment that you feel shaped the way you see the world and tell stories through your videos?

A.I. When I was 8 my mom took me to a Magritte exhibit at Lacma. The exhibit was designed in a way that made the spectator feel as though they were inside one of his paintings. There were

painted floors, strangely shaped walkways and sculptures emerging from the walls. This lives in

my memory as a moment when I saw what I wanted to spend my life doing. The whole exhibit was my first time witnessing a visual representation of the absurdity of logic or how we perceive truth to be some sort of absolute when really it's just this constructed illusion. Naturally following this I was a painter for many years which ultimately led me to filmmaking but Magritte is someone I am always thinking about.

S.N. Your work often conveys emotions that feel almost tangible. When approaching a new project, how do you find the balance between what your heart tells you and what your eyes want to capture?

A.I. The human life process is such a bewildering paradigm to me that I personally can’t help but lead with my heart above all, it’s an intrinsic part of my being. And inside my heart is a pool of endless magic tricks I would enjoy putting a camera into. A movie idea is sort of like writing a song, you can start with the melody or the lyrics but the best songs are when both elements come at the same time. So to achieve a flow between your heart's desires and your visual sensibility is the ideal while always leading with love. As Maria says in Metropolis (Lang, 1927) “the mediator between head and the hands, must be your heart”

S.N. Your videos immerse viewers in an intimate space. Is there a moment when you feel a piece has found its own voice and begins speaking directly to others?

A.I. I always aim for my films to take whatever shape they want to take. I am merely a vessel for the project and the best thing I can do is listen and not get in the way. There is no control (in anything) so why would ascertaining a certain level of dominance help? It's like Lennie with the mice and puppy in Of Mice and Men which he kills by smothering, I do not want to “Lennie” anything in my life. The best thing I can do is tune into the project's spirit and allow it to be free.

S.N. Throughout your career, has there been a challenge that changed you deeply, one that now inhabits every image you create?

A.I. Not during my career but a central part of my creating stems from when I was younger I didn’t know whether my dreaming or waking state was the “main zone”. I realized this world was technically the “main zone” when I went through puberty. This has been a challenge I have yet to overcome. I just know now that I have to take this place seriously but I still take my dreams very seriously too. That primordial knowingness that the state of both dreaming and waking are an illusion is present in everything I make.

S.N. If your work could exist as a parallel universe, how would you describe it? What elements, emotions, or textures would serve as its defining coordinates?

A.I. In a parallel universe I would like to make my work be experiential, like a ride. The ride would feel like an odyssey where you could fly and encounter different deities that would lead you to specific subconscious realms. Different lights/colors, smells, tastes, and memories would all be experienced through this journey and It would be narrated by your parent’s childhood self.

S.N. Your videos often play with temporality, almost as if pausing memory and breath. How do you approach time in your visual narrative, and what are you trying to capture beyond what is seen?

A.I. Film is time travel. Not only can you see a hundred years take place in one hour but you also can watch something that takes place in real time, from a time you've never experienced. I’ve always had a soft spot for films that take place in 24/48 hours because the pace has the capacity to capture a closely true to life experience. The more duration spent on a moment, the more you get to feel the essence of that moment. The art of pacing is suffering in today's current world, everyone wants everything chopped up so fast that eventually the point is butchered. What feels forgotten is that pace is not exclusively established by the edit, it's also within the action of every subject and camera. When we allow the story to direct the pace, we can feel the world in a much more real way.

S.N. There’s a palpable intimacy in your work. How do you navigate the vulnerability of exposing emotions while protecting your own creative and personal space?

A.I. I almost always collaborate with people I am close to. I mean, not every single person but at least a handful of people on my teams are my lifelong friends. I aim to form a collective mindset within my cast and crew so having an already established trust creates an open and honest set. I also have a very good memory, not always for nouns under pressure but for anecdotes about random people I’ve met in passing. I do think this protects me.

S.N. If your work could linger in the memory of viewers like a whisper, beyond the visual, what feeling or message would you hope remains?

A.I. Every individual film has a message of its own but speaking generally the feeling would be tears of joy and the message is “all you need is love” but whispered by Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka.

S.N. Now, we are gonna give you some words, and we would like you represent visually with some frames recorded by you from you phone, camera or personal project that represents the word:

A.I. All moments taken from my film The Caretaker, chronicles a 24 hour period following Louis, in an old Hollywood hills mansion, who after hearing the news of his boss's death, has a nervous breakdown and a house party.