Asfalttikukkaset / Asphalt Flowers

Asphalt Flowers is a group of sculptures by Tiia Matikainen, located in the yard of the Helsingin Normaalilyseo school in the Kaartinkaupunki district. The work consists of two stylised pieces that resemble flowers. Made of full-depth coloured concrete, the flowers can be sat upon.

The underlying idea for the work was the association, awakened by the phrase ‘asphalt flower’, of a fragile flower that pushes its way through hard asphalt. The work is a depiction of that strength and also a metaphor of young people who, despite external pressures and internal anxieties, have the strength to bloom.Commissioned by the State Art Commission, the work was unveiled in the yard of the school in September 2009. The work does not belong to the collections of the Helsinki Art Museum.