Naia del Castillo presents at ARTIUM 25 photographs and objects-sculptures representative of the two subject matters on which the artist has concentrated over the last four years, i.e., people trapped in their daily lives and the theme of seduction, especially through the use of clothes. The exhibition consists of nine colour photographs belonging to the series “Atrapados” and a further eight photographs belonging to the series “Sobre la seducción”. The latter series includes eight objects included in the exhibition (clothes, boots, bibs, archery items), made by the artist herself for later use as models for her images.

The subtle and elegant nature of her work is accentuated by the exhibition set-up and especially by its lighting which gradually diminishes as one moves through the gallery until the semi darkness required for the three individually-lit “vestidos-luciérnaga“, is created.

The exhibition opens with eight photographs from the series “Atrapados”, which depicts people tied to domestic objects such as a bed (“Espacio doméstico-Cama”), a chair (“Espacio doméstico-silla”) or to another individual (“S.T. (Horas de oficina)”); or women with their faces wrapped in their own hair "protected, shattered people, hidden behind their own hair", in the words of Naia del Castillo. The artist turns her attention "towards a domestic environment and through simple images such as a bed, a chair, a cushion - I think about how these objects condition your life.
A wall-cabinet, which contains the first objects from the series “Sobre la seducción” (the shirt in “Seductor”, the boots in “Cortejo” and the bib in “Sin título (Seducción)”) give way to photographs of its contents. The images, with individuals wearing some of the clothes and objects use in the exhibition, invite one to reflect on the rituals, rules, stereotypes and games of appearance that form part of the art of seduction.

The last works in the exhibition are “Luciérnaga II” and “Luciérnaga III”, photographs and dresses created for the fashion competition Alta Roma 2003, not out of an interest in the world of fashion, but due to Naia del Castillo's fascination about “the body and its adornments, including clothes, as a strategy and lure in the seduction ritual”. The last piece of work created by Naia del Castillo, specifically for this exhibition, shows her model using a sculpted piece of lipstick. The piece of lipstick also forms part of the exhibition of objects.

This Bilbao-born artist follows a painstakingly slow, laborious process of creation in which "I feel an image, I begin to pull on the yarn and skein begins to unravel and the work begins to take shape. On other occasions, the idea is very clear and well-defined, there is always a struggle to simplify and convey the message as if it were in the air, exposed, soft - not inflexible".

This meticulous process is exemplified, for example, in the piece “Tiro con arco”. Based on an idea about Cupid, the God of love, in the series “Sobre la seducción”, Naia del Castillo searched in stores and warehouses specialised in theatre props until she found an old bow and arrow. She covered these in snakeskin and peacock feathers, and even did a six-month archery course in order to become familiar with the techniques and philosophy of this sport. Only when she had completed this process did she give form to her idea in the photograph which can be seen next to the bow, arrow and guards on show in the exhibition at ARTIUM of Álava.