Uketamo

Renowned for her large-scale sculptural installations and mixed media creations, Adeline de Monseignat (Monaco, 1987) explores themes of identity, gender, memory, and the human condition. Uketamo emerges in the landscape as an outdoor sculpture, a composition of mounds rising above a stony surface reminiscent of the moon. Each hollow, like a womb that has given birth, suggests the presence of a seed now embarking on its own journey.

Uketamo, meaning “to humbly accept with an open heart,” is one of the five pillars of wabi sabi, the Japanese philosophy that inspires Fundación Casa Wabi and advocates for the acceptance of beauty in imperfection. For the artist, beauty resides not only in the abundant, the strong, and the profuse, but also in the empty and the vulnerable. The work invites us to reflect on motherhood, particularly on the state of the mother after childbirth, known as sango in Japanese culture. De Monseignat, drawing from her own experience, describes the sensation of emptiness and energy detachment experienced in this stage.

Negative space plays a fundamental role in the installation. Tension and attention are focused on the cavities, each of which reveals a mirror at its base. This mirror points towards the sky, symbolizing self-reflection, surrender, and the search for guidance in belief systems and spirituality. The materiality of the work engages with the architecture of the environment, creating the illusion that volcanic forms have been carved into the brick ground or have sprung directly from it.

Uketamo is an invitation to introspection, to accepting vulnerability, and to seeking beauty in the unexpected. The work reminds us that emptiness is not absence but potential, and that in stillness and introspection, we can find the strength to move forward.

Curator: Alberto Ríos de la Rosa