Artwork: Chiharu Shiota, *Exposing an Inner Universe*, Madrid, Spain, 2026

Chiharu Shiota’s recent exhibition, Exposing an Inner Universe, at NF/Nieves Fernández in Madrid, Spain, features smaller scaled artworks, yet with her signature use of red and black threads which symbolise blood, and the invisible connections and ties between people and places, forming complex networks and associations. Themes of memory, imagination, identity, the nature of existence, consciousness and the individual’s lifespan are core to this and many past installations. Shiota wrote this about the central artwork of a sculptural rendering of a chair and desk amid an explosion of shaped yarn spreading across the wall spaces:

“I imagine a person sitting at the table, writing or sketching. Their thoughts and feelings spilling out of their head, spreading from the table, moving up the wall, their imagination has no limits, forming a landscape of emotions that connects their inner world with the outside. The landscape is like its own universe, a different planet, organic yet alien. This inner universe seems vast and structured, full of complexity, unresolved conflicts, and hidden harmony. It represents who they truly are beyond social roles, nationality, culture, religion, and other constructs that seem natural like the shape of the wire, but at the same time restricts their true self.”

The exhibition ends April 25, 2026.