Like an Iris in the Negev

Art + reflection by Sofia Rector

I knew I couldn’t go it alone: When I was asked to create a piece to illustrate teaching on misunderstood women in the Bible, I turned to a few trusted female friends to help me consider themes related to the topic. Their comments touched on the sense of dislocation (things not being as they ought to be) in the Biblical narratives, and of women seen as disposable objects, constricted to narrow (often flat, linear) roles. One friend listed a few of the different women we read about in the Old Testament and noted how much the desert is the backdrop for these stories. 

As I listened, I was drawn to the story of Hagar and Sarah, both of whom misunderstood their own worth as well as the other’s, thereby exacting damage on each other. Because of these interactions, Hagar finds herself in the desert twice–where she discovers the God who sees her truly and cares for her. The location of the second desert encounter–Beersheba–stood out to me, so I started looking up images of Beersheba and the Negev desert. I was struck by the geometric, restrictive lines of the area. The thought came to me to look for flowers that might grow in this environment, and I found the “Black Negev (or Judean) Iris” that grows near Beersheba, and so an image of redemptive grace and beauty arising from a context of hardship and barrenness began taking shape in my mind. In this finished piece, the iris emerges from flat, confining lines into its multidimensional fullness.

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