Based on an instinctive feeling of unease with the convenience and automation of daily life, Lieko Shiga has developed an artistic approach that links questions about the nature of the photographic medium with fundamental questions about life and the means of expressing oneself. The artist’s photographs integrate her personal experiences with grander mythologies turning them into surreal and fantastical scenarios. She also introduces streaks of light and energy trails to the surface of her images, facilitating and revealing an even greater intrusion by the photographer. In the artist's recent works, the documentary and the staged photography is actively combined in a very expressive mode, and she deploys technical tricks which often result in uncanny spiritual images. Though the works often have a haunting presence, the images reflect recent catastrophic experiences in Japanese society. There is a unique enchantment in her works, resonating with an unruly native spirituality, mysticism, and folklore, especially invoking Japanese traditions and beliefs, while transforming them at the same time.