González began to wonder how real the reproductions in art books were, and from that her interest in the imperfections of the printed image was born. Tired of producing variations on Velázquez and Vermeer, she happened upon the photograph of the Sisga suicides in the newspaper. In 1965, she presented the painting derived from this image at the XVII National Artists’ Salon. The work was initially rejected "because a member of the jury said it was a bad Botero." However, the decision was reconsidered and the work ended up receiving the second special jury award. From that moment on, Beatriz González began to take an interest in local tragedies through the media. She also ventured into materials beyond the classic instruments of painting: "One day I got tired of oil, of canvas, of fine materials.” Although critics constantly referred to Beatriz González as a pop artist, she always made it clear that Warhol did not interest her at the time; she preferred abstract expressionism.