"House of Shadows" by Ekaterina Muromtseva (Setouchi Triennale 2025)

Today, I would like to share with you one piece of art that I particularly enjoyed during the Setouchi Triennale 2025, although sadly, I could only see it once because it was located on Honjima, which is only part of the Triennale during the autumn session.

The piece is called House of Shadows and is by Ekaterina Muromtseva.

The artwork is quite self-explanatory and doesn't require much explanation, so I'll just share a few pictures and share some thoughts.

It was actually difficult to take good pictures because of the positions of the lights, which had to be where they were to project shadows onto various surfaces. Also, the place was more crowded than it looks. If I didn't want too many people in the frame, I couldn't always take pictures the way I wanted.

This is a good reminder that the best way to experience the Triennale—or any art, really—is in person. Pictures are rarely the best option for that.

This is even more evident with installations such as House of Shadows. It's not just art that you see, but art that you walk through and that engulfs and completely surrounds you at times.

As you can see above, most of the shadows were created using marker drawings on translucent surfaces. However, there were also "secret wooden sculptures," which I'm glad I found.

Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure this was temporary artwork, and I doubt it'll be available again. However, we never know. I actually have no information either way.

Originally, I didn't want to post artworks in this newsletter that are probably already gone (and archive them on Setouchi Explorer so that the old blog doesn't look too abandoned). However, since many of this newsletter's subscribers are American, please know that Ekaterina Muromtseva is based in New York and often exhibits her work there. I thought you'd like to know.

I never met her. Sadly, I missed her in 2022 when she was on Ogijima, and she couldn't come to Japan last year. From what I understand, she created the artwork in her New York studio, and then it was shipped and installed in the house without her. That makes me sad.

However, I'm telling you this because, from what I've heard, she's a really nice and cool person. You should go to her exhibits and possibly meet her if you get the chance.

You can follow Ekaterina on the following platforms:

• Her official website, where you'll find much better pictures of House of Shadows than mine.
• Her Instagram account, where she's quite active and posts lots of interesting content.

All right, that's it for today.
As always, if you enjoyed what you saw and read, please share it with your friends, contacts, and loved ones.

As always, thanks for reading and see you soon.

Best,

David