BIZZARINTEMACY

‘Bizarre Intimacies’ brings together a collection of deeply personal works, a tether between the artists and viewers that goes beyond physical connection. The works act as a disruption in our subconscious, creating a distortion between the self and the other, turning the familiar into something unfamiliar, and yet, undeniably human.

The pieces in the exhibition make us think of the nature of intimacy itself—how something so deeply personal can go beyond individual experience and translate universally. They are intimate in ways that are emotional, intellectual, spiritual, and creative. As we get a peek into the artists’ vulnerabilities, their stories start to connect with parts of ourselves, unlocking memories and emotions that feel both theirs and yet intimately familiar to us.

The distortion of self evokes a sense of remembrance. We are reminded of the influences that have shaped our own identities—experiences, memories and forces we might have never realised before; whether it’s the cartoons we used to watch daily before school, the long conversations during sleepovers, or that one activity the whole family did together.

The exhibition allows us to step into the artists’ worlds, to experience their intimate recollections, and hence to reflect on our own. It makes us think of the ways in which our memories merge with the stories of others, creating a space where personal and collective histories blur. It raises the question: what part do our memories play in shaping us? Just how much of our identity is our own? And most importantly, do we have the agency to take control of it, or does its essence lie in being this amalgamation?

Through these disturbances, individual memories are no longer static; they grow, shift, and overlap. The past is never fixed, and therefore neither is the self.