In "Floral Passage," Kenojuak cleverly interrupts the viewer’s natural desire to read an image from left to right by introducing the dramatic backward sweep of her loon’s neck. Going against the forward trajectory of its body, the neck thrusts backward in the same gentle curve we see on the loon’s back and in its wings. By at once mimicking the body’s swell, while standing in sharp contrast to its forward course, Kenojuak challenges us to observe this image with great care.

The same soft swell is reinforced by the manner in which Kenojuak composes the curving line of the flower stem, whose petals and leaves are coloured by Qiatsuq in the starkly contrasting hues of warm oranges and red. This juxtaposition is a fitting complement to Kenojuak’s complicated composition.