Siew Guang Hong
 

orchid: courting is a diptych comprising the depiction of a hammer orchid on the left and a corresponding depiction of a thynnid wasp on the right. Expanding from orchid: stalking, the work foregrounds the orchid’s entanglement in complex angential dynamisms and systems despite its apparent vegetal stasis. The hammer orchid is documented to mimic the form and pheromonal signals of a female thynnid wasp in order to attract male wasps, which are compelled into pseudocopulatory behaviour that facilitates the plant’s pollination.

An additional layer emerges through the etymology of “orchid,” derived from the Greek orkhis, meaning testicle. This linguistic residue introduces a queer subtext that runs through the work’s engagement with mimicry, desire, and performativity. The selected orchid form, with its pronounced, phallic morphology and bulbous structures, amplifies this association, complicating distinctions between masculine and feminine signifiers. In titling the panels courter (orchid) and courted (wasp), the work further destabilises normative alignments between gender, role, and biological sex.