I Can Buy Myself Flowers

The flower is one of the most widely used motifs in art history: universally recognizable, aesthetically accessible, and at the same time charged with meanings of life, death, love, grief, and transformation. It carries countless narratives at once – depending on who is looking at it and in what context. 

“I Can Buy Myself Flowers” takes its title from Miley Cyrus’ hit celebrating the ability to stand on one’s own — but the reference reaches far beyond the world of pop culture. As early as Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway, the flower plays a central role as a symbol of emotion, reflection, and independence. With the flower as a recurring motif, we explore themes such as self-care, agency, and the right to take oneself seriously – without withdrawing from community. 

“Flowers are at once ‘useless’ and indispensable. Beautifully camouflaged cultural markers whose psychological effect can last far longer than the bouquet itself. For better and for worse, of course. In this exhibition, we explore what happens when care is no longer something one owes or exchanges, but something one assumes — without an audience and without asking permission.” 

Thomas Asbæk, Artistic Director of Kunsthal n.

“I Can Buy Myself Flowers” explores floral symbolism as a source of sensuality, strength, rebellion, and defiant courage. Traditionally, we give flowers as tokens of love or care — yet often an invisible expectation of something in return follows. In the exhibition, this perspective is reversed: what happens when the flower is given to oneself? It becomes a symbol of agency and inner growth, a gesture that requires no explanation and empowers without creating debt. Something new emerges – a force taking shape from within. 

“I Can Buy Myself Flowers” has been realized with the generous support of the Ny Carlsbergfondet, Aage og Johanne Louis-Hansens Fond, William Demant Fonden, Nørrebro Lokaludvalg, Erik Birger Christensens Fond and Overretssagfører L. Zeuthens Mindelegat.