Army Green Orchids Exhibit on West Coast

Rebecca Strzelec, assistant professor of Visual Arts, was invited this fall to exhibit her current series, "Army Green Orchids," in a solo exhibition at San Francisco's Velvet Da Vinci Gallery. She also conducted a lecture about her work at the gallery in September.

The Army Green Orchids series currently consists of eighteen brooches that redefine the corsage and gain inspiration from early botanical illustrations.

"The series brings awareness to the practices surrounding commercially cultivated flowers and the increasing number of American military casualties in Iraq," Strzelec says. "Flowers have been worn on garments and in the hair since ancient Greece. Over time, they have signified achievement, adornment, class, mourning, celebration, marital status, and wealth. Today, corsages are sold for special occasions such as weddings, formal dances, and holidays; wearing flowers has evolved into a business. The preciousness of the corsage as self-expression has been watered-down with the onset of overnight delivery. Flowers are ordered, not picked; they are tinted, dipped, glued, sliced, and submerged in a long list of preservatives. Our society has created the mass-produced flower."

"As a nation, we have grown accustomed to the growing casualty count in Iraq," she adds. Finding it hard personally to reconcile these deaths and also desiring to bring to each casualty the attention that it deserves, Strzelec turned to color.

States Strzelec, "'Army' green speaks to military activity in general but also to the familiar toy soldier, sold in bags by the millions. In many ways, we have created the mass produced soldier. I will consider this body of work a success if the wearer/viewer considers the idea of preciousness found in the orchid, the soldier, or another facet of society."