Feminism and memory are central themes in Milja Laurila’s work, which delves into the intricate relationship between knowledge and the subconscious. In her artistic practice, she questions a photograph’s ability to forget what it once was proof of—does an image that is detached from its context still remain related to the original semantic field, or does it transform into something new? By using borrowed images—particularly photographs from old medical books—as the foundation of her work, she frees them from their original context, allowing them to take on new meanings and speak on their own. Her alterations subvert and disrupt the sociopolitical structures underlying the original photographs.

Milja Laurila (*1982 in Helsinki, Finland) studied at Musashino Art University, Tokyo in 2008, before graduating from the Aalto University School of Arts, Design, and Architecture in 2010. Her works have been exhibited internationally at various solo and group exhibitions, including at the Brooklyn Museum (New York), LACMA (Los Angeles), National Gallery in Sopot (PL), Kunsthalle Helsinki, Fondation Hippocrène (Paris), MOCAK (Krakow), École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts (Paris), and Borås Artmuseum (SE). Her works are also included in the collections of important American and Finnish institutions, such as LACMA, Helsinki Art Museum, Finnish Museum of Photography, Saastamoinen Foundation Art Collection (FI), and State Art Collection (FI), in addition to private collections in Australia, Belgium, Finland, Germany, and Norway.