The installation consists of an 8.5-metre long rope ladder hanging between two circular mirrors, one installed on the ground, the other on the ceiling. The work was inspired by beliefs ingrained in Hungarian culture, a shamanic view of a world divided into three spheres, connected by a World-Tree – or Shaman Ladder – which stands in the centre of the world. Its foliage represents the Upper World, the home of the gods. The Middle World, the one we inhabit, is located at the tree’s trunk. The Under World can be found around its roots.
The same symbol appears in Judaism and the Book of Genesis, where Jacob’s Ladder bridges the distance between heaven and earth. Within the mirrors’ reflections, the ladder seems to continue on infinitely, opening a pathway into different dimensions. Ascending the Shaman Ladder symbolises the passage to a different sphere, inhabiting a space of freedom.
