Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei is currently exhibiting on Alcatraz, the notorious island in the bay of San Francisco that was used as a military fortress and federal penitentiary for criminals by the likes of Alphonse ‘Al’ Capone. Amongst a large body of work specifically created for Alcatraz is ‘Blossom’, which the artist installed in several of the hospital ward cells and medical offices. It consist of intricately detailed encrustations of ceramic flowers that blossom out of toilets, sinks and tubs once used by hospitalized prisoners.

The curator has offered two possible interpretations of Ai Weiwei’s porcelain blossoms: they’re either a symbolic offering of comfort to the imprisoned or an ironic nod to China’s 1956 Hundred Flowers Campaign during which the communist government of China briefly lift the restrictions imposed upon Chinese intellectuals and thus grant greater freedom of thought and speech. But let’s leave it to the artist himself to explain: “The misconception of totalitarianism is that freedom can be imprisoned. This is not the case. When you constrain freedom, freedom will take flight and land on a windowsill.”

Ai Weiwei’s exhibition on Alcatraz will be open through April 26, 2015.