Cattleya (2)

The cattleya orchid — a spectacular hybrid orchid with broad, ruffled petals favored in Western floriculture — is rendered here in one of Kitaoka's floral studies. Designated "(2)," it may be part of a series of orchid compositions. The orchid's complex forms — the spreading outer petals, the elaborate lip, the clustered blooms on a single stem — challenge Kitaoka to reconcile the flower's inherent fussiness with his preference for bold, simplified form, the result balancing botanical recognition with modernist compression.