Ezra Burnham

OverShadowed History, 2026

Wood, foam, muslin, cardboard, light

In the past several decades, we’ve seen an uprising in interest in the ancient societies of the Mediterranean. From Tut-mania and the search for Cleopatra VII’s tomb, to the countless shows, movies, and musicals made around Greek mythology, these ancient cultures continue to find their way back into modern culture. If you asked someone about Egypt or Greece, they could probably tell you something about their mythology, their gods, or even their architecture. Greek marble columns are iconic, recreated all over the world to represent power and importance. Egyptian columns hold stories carved into their stone, making them more than just structural objects.

I wanted to take these familiar architectural forms and use them to tell stories in a different way. My piece consists of two six-foot-tall columns, one Greek Doric and one Egyptian. Instead of carving a story into their surfaces, I placed a shadow puppet stage inside each column. Internal lights shine through cut-out figures, casting their shadows onto the fabric surrounding the columns. The architecture becomes the stage, while the shadows become the images used to tell the story.

The Greek column tells the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, following Orpheus as he travels into the underworld to bring Eurydice back to the living. The Egyptian column tells the story of Isis and Osiris, following Isis as she searches for Osiris and works to restore him after his death. Both stories involve death, the underworld, and the attempt to bring someone back, creating a connection between two cultures that are often taught separately.

By combining ancient architectural forms with shadow puppetry, I wanted to mimic the way these societies used their architecture as a place for storytelling, while changing the way those stories are presented. Instead of being permanently carved into stone, the stories appear through light and shadow. They are temporary, constantly moving, and only exist while the light is on. In this way, the columns become less like monuments to the past and more like stages that allow these stories to continue being retold.