An Orchid: The Essence of Womanhood

                                    -An Orchid, Georgia O’Keefe

       To some, a painting simply of a flower, zoomed in, so as not to show it in its entirety, but only a flower nonetheless. But this painting speaks to me of something much deeper. To me, the painting’s simplicity of subject makes it all the more intriguing.

Orchids are exotic. When someone says “flower” what typically springs to mind is a daisy or a pansy or the like—not an orchid. There is something mysterious and intoxicating about orchids—from their strange shape (they look a bit like a lion with an under-bite to me) to the vivid colors on their petals (violets and yellows and sapphire blues), to the graceful way they droop and hang on their stems (like an old man nodding off to sleep) . And orchids have a natural juxtaposition of the sharp points of their rostellum right next to the softness of their petals. It is curious how such an opposition can exact such temptation out of the viewer.

Yes, I would say that given all these alluring qualities, orchids know something of seduction—they show you just enough to pull you in, without giving too much away. They make themselves irresistible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXhyGANMvkw

But that is what we see from the outside. It is not until we look deeper—as O’Keefe has done here—that we really see what makes an orchid. And through her lens, we are able to see such complexity! There is much more to it than one might have supposed by only looking at it from the outside. There is an organic, natural beauty even within the parts that help the flower to survive. The functions they perform are beautiful—and that speaks to me as a woman: inside me are organs that are intrinsically different than there are inside of a man. And those organs perform a beautiful function—giving life! This painting describes to me the essence of womanhood. It’s an understated beauty that cannot be expressed in words, nor can it be understood fully with the logical mind. It can only be felt. For me this is the epitome of the real. It is so beautiful that I do not want to use my language to symbolize it. I want only to bask in its wonder.

“And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2: 16-19).