Anacostia Community Museum
Pink Orchid Cross-Stitch
Ira Blount · c. 1994
Pink orchids bloom in a blue pot on this cross-stitch bordered in brown. Invoking the conventions of still-life paintings, a single flower has fallen off the plant in a memento mori. Between the detached blossom and the three still clinging to their stem is the Chinese character for good fortune, “fú”. These details, deftly rendered in an index card-sized space, reflect artist Ira Blount’s (1918-2020) interests in both the natural world and in Asian cultures, while drawing attention to the universality of nature’s fleeting beauty.
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