Yukina Yamamoto

The 1st solo-exhibition ‘Sumi-ink in Darkness is inspired by the book 陰翳礼賛 (In praise of shadows) by Junichiro Tanizaki. Tanizaki discovered that Japanese appreciate the authentic beauty of darkness by using the quality of different elements (e.g. shadow, natural light, space). I want to conceptualise a pleasant space that incorporates Japanese calligraphy artwork to tackle the challenges associated with well-being during the darkness of Finnish winter such as depression, anxiety, or low motivation.

In Galleria Ronga’s Medikulma, two of the same works are displayed in different rooms. One piece is in the white room and the other in the black room. Dark room used only two small lamps from the floor which were created as candle lights. I left a voting board where visitors can vote on which room was more comfortable. The results were almost even, and many visitors who voted to the black room left reviews – “It was surprising seeing that the artwork can be so beautiful even in the darkroom. “, “ My heartbeats became so calm when I was in the darkroom.”

The exhibition was supported by Arts Promotion Centre Finland ja Otto A. Malmi.