“I am a sieve through which the sun streams.”
Irmeli Kukkapuro – Portals is the first book of Irmeli Kukkapuro’s art.
Edited by Päivi Helander and Ida Kukkapuro, the book offers a journey into Irmeli Kukkapuro’s previously largely unknown world. It includes a substantial article by art historian PhD Asta Kihlman, who provides an overview of the developments that have shaped Kukkapuro’s work. In addition to graphic prints and drawings the book presents photographs of over 320 objects found on the shelf in the artist’s corner at Studio Kukkapuro – from essential tools and materials to artifacts of inspiration and memory.
Finnish Irmeli Kukkapuro (1934–2022) was a versatile artist. From early ink works she moved on to lithography, woodcuts and large abstractions, object compositions and, in the late period, paintings and collages. The themes she explored in her works were gender, form, space and color. The artist herself described the creative process as “breathing in and breathing out”.
EDITORS Päivi Helander, Ida Kukkapuro
WRITERS Asta Kihlman, Päivi Helander
GRAPHIC DESIGN Päivi Helander
PHOTOGRAPHY Christian Jakowleff
PUBLISHED Garret Publications
