I was recently contacted by a high school student who read my thesis and was wondering why I'd chosen to use roses in my watercolor paintings. I've touched about that a little on here already, but today I thought I'd share the response I wrote to her, since I go into the rose in more detail.
She asked if I used the rose for personal reasons, just because I think it's a pretty flower, or if I feel as though it best represents the female anatomy.
I replied:
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I don't know if I would say the rose *best* represents female anatomy. It has been used historically to represent female genitalia in some cases, but in other cases it represents purity, chastity, almost the *absence* of female genitalia/female sexuality. In Northern Renaissance art, the rose and lily both became popular symbols for the Virgin Mary - and her anatomy is only important as it pertains to her ability to act as a vessel and to give birth (both passive activities), but not to be used for sex or self-expression or anything that might grant her agency. Throughout the Victorian era too, roses were very commonly used as symbols of sexual innocence and purity.
(I talk more about the negative symbolism of roses on my blog -
untilthewaterfalls.blogspot.com/2015/09/negative-symbolism.html)
I liked that ambiguity - the fact that the rose has been used as positive symbolism and negative symbolism both. I think it widens the variety of interpretations viewers might see in my work.
If the rose is a stand-in for sexual purity, and my watercolors show that rose being stabbed with straight pins, it could indicate a desire to eradicate sexual purity - that is, the antiquated ideas about chastity and the double standards of sexuality the different genders face. If the rose is, on the other hand, a stand-in for sexuality and female genitalia, then the rose being stabbed demonstrates the desire many people (unfortunately) have to continue to restrain female sexuality and self-expression. The patriarchy. So-called "meninists." Anyone who is desperate to uphold the current systems of privilege and oppression so that men continue to benefit and women are limited.
As for personal reasons, I talk a lot on my blog about my struggle to find and maintain confidence (with sexuality, but also just in general). Particularly in this post -
untilthewaterfalls.blogspot.com/2015/09/feminine-layers.html
"When I started this painting, I wasn't necessarily thinking of flowers as symbols for female genitalia; I chose flowers and I chose patterns for aesthetic reasons. But as I painted, and as I started thinking about what drew me to that aesthetic choice, and as I heard what others in my class were saying about the painting during critique, I realized that I could create a pretty powerful message (or, rather, pretty powerful messages - because I don't believe any art can be or should be interpreted in only one way, even if the artist had one specific way in mind) if I used that well-known symbolism to guide a viewer's interpretation in a certain direction."
"I painted this watercolor when I was 20 years old. I had only had one boyfriend (and still have only had one relationship, for that boyfriend became the man I married), and had very little sexual experience. I was - and often still am - ashamed and mystified by my own body and by the idea of sex. I did not know how to talk about it or what to think about it. I understood that it would be great, would be liberating, to have positive feelings about my body and about sex, but I was not there yet (and would argue that I am still not there today, six years later)."
And in this post -
untilthewaterfalls.blogspot.com/2015/09/silk-caution-poisoned-rose.html
"I saw sex (in general) and my vagina (specifically) as shameful and mortifying. Still, I happily, willingly, and actively participated in my own sexual repression because I thought it's what I was supposed to do, what good girls did, what good Christians did. I was even kind of perversely proud at the extent of my vagina's "purity" - that it had never even been besmirched by my own fingers or a tampon."
"And then I took a Humanities class my senior year of high school, and I learned about other religions and historical attitudes and I started considering the negative side of gender roles for the first time. And then, as I grew enlightened and liberated in my thinking, I also grew ashamed and mortified of my shame and mortification. I decided everything I had grown up believing was wrong. I decided I wanted to figure out how to use tampons and I wanted to have sex and I wanted to explore my body and find confidence in my sexuality and I wanted to experience an orgasm. I also decided that my Christian upbringing was at least partly at fault for the attitudes I had about myself and my sexuality, a realization that led to (but was not the sole reasoning behind) my decision to step away from Christianity. I realized that I no longer believed in God. I tried to have faith in myself, instead."
-
Though I don't mention roses specifically, I think it's clear that I was looking at the negative symbolism of roses. I've always liked roses and sort of identified with them, probably because of their connection with purity, chastity, sexual innocence.
Also, there was the simple fact that roses are easy to come by at any florist shop, so they were easy for me to acquire and work from. I do like their shape, and had some experience painting roses already, which was helpful. There are plenty of cultivated varieties to work from, which gives me a wide range of choice for composition, even while staying within the rose family. And because roses are so ubiquitous, everyone is able to recognize them.
As with any decision we make in our lives, there's not really *one* reason I chose to use the rose in my paintings.
Hope that helps! There's a lot more about my thesis on that blog too, if you just click around and read the blog posts with the "thesis" label.
Let me know if you have any further questions. :)
-
I love talking about my artwork, so if you have any of you have any questions, hit me up! I'd love to start a conversation.
She asked if I used the rose for personal reasons, just because I think it's a pretty flower, or if I feel as though it best represents the female anatomy.
I replied:
-
I don't know if I would say the rose *best* represents female anatomy. It has been used historically to represent female genitalia in some cases, but in other cases it represents purity, chastity, almost the *absence* of female genitalia/female sexuality. In Northern Renaissance art, the rose and lily both became popular symbols for the Virgin Mary - and her anatomy is only important as it pertains to her ability to act as a vessel and to give birth (both passive activities), but not to be used for sex or self-expression or anything that might grant her agency. Throughout the Victorian era too, roses were very commonly used as symbols of sexual innocence and purity.
(I talk more about the negative symbolism of roses on my blog -
untilthewaterfalls.blogspot.com/2015/09/negative-symbolism.html)
I liked that ambiguity - the fact that the rose has been used as positive symbolism and negative symbolism both. I think it widens the variety of interpretations viewers might see in my work.
If the rose is a stand-in for sexual purity, and my watercolors show that rose being stabbed with straight pins, it could indicate a desire to eradicate sexual purity - that is, the antiquated ideas about chastity and the double standards of sexuality the different genders face. If the rose is, on the other hand, a stand-in for sexuality and female genitalia, then the rose being stabbed demonstrates the desire many people (unfortunately) have to continue to restrain female sexuality and self-expression. The patriarchy. So-called "meninists." Anyone who is desperate to uphold the current systems of privilege and oppression so that men continue to benefit and women are limited.
As for personal reasons, I talk a lot on my blog about my struggle to find and maintain confidence (with sexuality, but also just in general). Particularly in this post -
untilthewaterfalls.blogspot.com/2015/09/feminine-layers.html
"When I started this painting, I wasn't necessarily thinking of flowers as symbols for female genitalia; I chose flowers and I chose patterns for aesthetic reasons. But as I painted, and as I started thinking about what drew me to that aesthetic choice, and as I heard what others in my class were saying about the painting during critique, I realized that I could create a pretty powerful message (or, rather, pretty powerful messages - because I don't believe any art can be or should be interpreted in only one way, even if the artist had one specific way in mind) if I used that well-known symbolism to guide a viewer's interpretation in a certain direction."
"I painted this watercolor when I was 20 years old. I had only had one boyfriend (and still have only had one relationship, for that boyfriend became the man I married), and had very little sexual experience. I was - and often still am - ashamed and mystified by my own body and by the idea of sex. I did not know how to talk about it or what to think about it. I understood that it would be great, would be liberating, to have positive feelings about my body and about sex, but I was not there yet (and would argue that I am still not there today, six years later)."
And in this post -
untilthewaterfalls.blogspot.com/2015/09/silk-caution-poisoned-rose.html
"I saw sex (in general) and my vagina (specifically) as shameful and mortifying. Still, I happily, willingly, and actively participated in my own sexual repression because I thought it's what I was supposed to do, what good girls did, what good Christians did. I was even kind of perversely proud at the extent of my vagina's "purity" - that it had never even been besmirched by my own fingers or a tampon."
"And then I took a Humanities class my senior year of high school, and I learned about other religions and historical attitudes and I started considering the negative side of gender roles for the first time. And then, as I grew enlightened and liberated in my thinking, I also grew ashamed and mortified of my shame and mortification. I decided everything I had grown up believing was wrong. I decided I wanted to figure out how to use tampons and I wanted to have sex and I wanted to explore my body and find confidence in my sexuality and I wanted to experience an orgasm. I also decided that my Christian upbringing was at least partly at fault for the attitudes I had about myself and my sexuality, a realization that led to (but was not the sole reasoning behind) my decision to step away from Christianity. I realized that I no longer believed in God. I tried to have faith in myself, instead."
-
Though I don't mention roses specifically, I think it's clear that I was looking at the negative symbolism of roses. I've always liked roses and sort of identified with them, probably because of their connection with purity, chastity, sexual innocence.
Also, there was the simple fact that roses are easy to come by at any florist shop, so they were easy for me to acquire and work from. I do like their shape, and had some experience painting roses already, which was helpful. There are plenty of cultivated varieties to work from, which gives me a wide range of choice for composition, even while staying within the rose family. And because roses are so ubiquitous, everyone is able to recognize them.
As with any decision we make in our lives, there's not really *one* reason I chose to use the rose in my paintings.
Hope that helps! There's a lot more about my thesis on that blog too, if you just click around and read the blog posts with the "thesis" label.
Let me know if you have any further questions. :)
-
I love talking about my artwork, so if you have any of you have any questions, hit me up! I'd love to start a conversation.
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