In her works the sources are the ancients: Canova, Bernini, Michelangelo in the compositions and balances of the forms taken from classical statuary that can be transformed into ornaments and weaves.
The fusion between Roman elegance (“Ancient Rome” or “Roman Empire”) and the symbolic decorativism of Turkish and Ottoman splendor (the precious and symbolic decorations, inherited from an experienced and dreamed East) is clearly visible in Irem’s “Allegories”, from the drawings depicting the Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican, depictions of the architectural profile of the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, both cultural and religious symbol of their cities.
The theme of mythology is very common in her works, often the leitmotif of her artistic production. The history of the West is mainly the result of the very fertile intertwining of the Greek-Roman myths with those coming from Asia Minor and from the other cultures that over the centuries have appeared on the Mediterranean Sea.
In the representation of her Angels, Irem crosses the two cultures: the Western Christian and the Eastern Islam, merging with this (or her?) iconography the perception of this entity. A carnal and figurative vision of art deriving from the classicism of Rome, from Michelangelo, from the opposing Baroque and enriched by the abstract and pure vision of Islamic decorations. The light that reflects on the drapery, on the marble arts, on the wings of the beautiful Angels ready to take flight, is inextricably intertwined with the Islamic decorative motifs that reflect themselves to infinity.
