Danysz Gallery, Paris, 2022

Familiar Stranger reflects on the contradictions and dissonances of the world we inhabit today. We find ourselves in a time of profound and accelerating change – from the escalating effects of global warming to the ongoing refugee crisis, and a modern society overwhelmed by an excess of information. The smartphone has become a contemporary hypodermic needle, delivering digital dopamine around the clock and leaving us increasingly susceptible to patterns of compulsive overconsumption. We witness these transformations unfolding in real time, yet we experience them with an unsettling sense of estrangement. What once felt known now appears unfamiliar – the familiar turning into its own stranger.

The exhibition brings together works shaped in steel, pieces created from fencing materials, paintings made using a custom tool developed by the artists, and a video installation titled What Will Remain If We Don’t Act. This installation presents the skeletal outline of a home destroyed by climate-driven disasters – storms, floods, and extreme conditions fueled by rising methane levels in the atmosphere. It speaks to the consequences of political denial, capitalist excess, and the greed that continues to push our planet toward irreversible change.

The ruined home stands as a metaphor for a larger dwelling: Earth itself. Familiar Stranger invites viewers to confront this moment of disconnection and urgency, and to reflect on what may remain – for us, and for future generations – if we fail to act.