In his work A Look into the Past, photographic artist Vesa Aaltonen has combined a section of Erika Adamsson’s painting Chinese Vase (2018) with a contemporary photograph of the drawing room at the museum Ett Hem. On the right edge of the image stands a present-day figure observing the women in Adamsson’s painting, who are dressed in turn-of-the-century fashion. Adamsson’s painting, created from the same spot in the museum, blends seamlessly into the photographic reality.

In the artwork, the realism of photography meets the sensitivity of painting, forming a compelling visual and temporal intersection. An illusion of layered time emerges as past and present are brought together within a single frame.

The piece highlights the museum’s multifaceted nature – its objects, spaces, and the stories connected to them evoke the atmosphere of the early 20th century, while the museum itself remains firmly rooted in the present, as part of the ongoing process of preserving cultural heritage.