Flora

Plants in different cultures are valued for their medicinal properties, symbolism, and beauty. Plant life is something artists have explored for millennia. From still life images to scientific depictions to abstract or surreal interpretations, the works in Flora show the diverse ways artists have approached botanical materials as subjects. In her poem “Sacred Emily,” Gertrude Stein famously wrote “Rose is a rose is a rose,” suggesting that things are straightforward and that a name brings to mind an object at face value. Though Stein’s words have a different resonance in a literary context, the works in Flora reveal that a flower or plant may contain much more than the name implies.

Historically, botanical materials have been presented through visual art in countless ways. One of the first known botanical illustrations made to identify plants for medicinal purposes is De Materia Medica, created by Greek botanist Pedanius Dioscorides around 60 CE. Early Western European paintings with Christian themes included plants that bore symbolic meanings such as depicting the Virgin Mary with a white lily, symbolizing purity. Many still life paintings from the Netherlands and Italy in the 1600s featured elaborate floral arrangements. Chintz, which originated in India in the 16th century and spread throughout Europe, consists of block printed floral patterns on fabric. While the works in this exhibition are from the 20th and 21st centuries, artists in this exhibition continue and sometimes reference these rich traditions of botanical images.

Through the eyes of artists included in Flora, flowers, grasses, and cacti are seen from unique perspectives that evoke different moods and feelings. Works by Gustave Baumann, Jane Abrams, Pansy Stockton, Elisabeth Sunday, and Walter Chappell utilize unique materials and methods to depict plant life in different ways. Karsten Creightney and Enrique Martínez Celaya use flowers to explore narrative possibilities. Betty Hahn and Marilyn Conway feature flowers in still life arrangements. Each of the works in Flora show the diverse ways artists utilize plant life as subjects and how these works present botanical subjects as unique forms.