Hilla Kurki: Almost All the Flowers in My Mother’s Garden

Almost All the Flowers in My Mother’s Garden is a 144-page work with more than 100 pictures, mostly of flowers photographed in Kurje’s own mother’s garden, as well as anonymous daughters’ intimate memories of their own mothers. The memories merged together in the book do not personify one specific mother, which makes it easier to face painful memories. The flowers in the pictures symbolize the care, or lack thereof, that is the basis of our growth.

The background of the piece was Kurje’s experience of a wordless break between himself and his mother. In conversations with other artists of their generation, many recognized something similar about their own relationship with their mother. This started to develop into a text alternating with the flowers depicted in the garden, where e.g. Artists from Finland, France, Slovenia and Hungary remember their mothers.

The book is taken from the 2nd edition 2023, which has a slightly different cover (see other pictures).