If I Become an Alien? is an ambitious exploration of the Self experienced through a curated art experience within 3 environments: an art trail, a physical and a virtual exhibition space, featuring 26 artworks by 13 international artists.
The works span diverse media, including photography, painting, drawing, mixed media, sculpture, and text, offering a multidisciplinary examination of identity.
The concept of the self is rooted in our evolutionary past where self-reflection, memory, and imagination helped humans navigate complex social and natural environments. As human cultures developed, a hierarchy between people defined by wealth, education and occupation emerged. Social class began to play a role in forming personal identities and now contribute significantly yet superficially in how we perceive ourselves and others.
Nowadays the ability to embody multiple versions of ourself has become central to the human experience. We effortlessly transition between various roles—friend, worker, lover, parent, child—each requiring a slightly different version of us. These roles are not static but fluid, constantly shifting in response to our surroundings and interactions.
In recent decades, the digital realm has added new dimensions/layers to the above. Social media profiles allow us to create disembodied alternate selves, avatars, independent from our physical bodies, which are now extensions and fragmentations of our true identities that often shield our innermost selves.
As social hierarchies began shaping personal identities, people sought ways to express and define their sense of self within these evolving social structures. Art became one of the primary means through which individuals could communicate who they were, both personally and culturally. This artistic expression, from early body decoration to contemporary self-portraits, reflects not only individual identity but also the influence of social status and cultural context. Today, techniques continues to evolve—from full-body depictions to modern-day selfies—as artists, and anyone with a smartphone, use it to document personal narratives and relationships.
Starting at South Wimbledon Tube Station’s Florist If I Become An Alien? Art Trail creates an interactive journey for audiences, integrating art into the fabric of daily life and inviting viewers to contemplate how their surroundings influence their understanding of identity and self-perception.
As a microcosm of society, the local street, a place of familiarity where its rhythms and particular geography becomes part of our autobiography is also where we practice different versions of ourselves, these micro-identities helping us understand who we are in relation to others.
In addition, the project features a dedicated exhibition at Pause/Frame with artworks that focus on the self and encourage reflection about what lies beneath the personas we project, how personal experiences, cultural context, individual memory and daily routines contribute to our sense of self as both visible and hidden, solid yet elusive.
The artworks in this exhibition and the art trail show us that identity is not fixed but an ever-changing mosaic of experiences infected by memories, psychological states, and emotions that shape our sense of self, even altering how we see ourselves and others while highlighting the common threads of experience that connect individuals across cultural boundaries.
To expand engagement, a virtual space will accompany the exhibition, providing an online platform to explore themes of self-representation & identity. This digital component enables visitors to reflect on how they curate their identities through social media & online mediums.
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With: Curated by: Online Gallery by:
Albert Negredo Lucy Chapman Chris. Dugrenier Mark Burden
Brenda Vega Meg Wylie & Serena Pradicelli
Chris. Dugrenier Rabiya Nagi
Elena Grossi Rishi Khurana
Gino Wong Shahryar Medi
Irum Rahat Shengdi Cui
Kejian Sun
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Art Trail
From South Wimbledon Tube Station’s Florist to Pause/Frame by The Koppel Project
Stopping @
Lullet Flowers – Mon to Sun – 12 to 7pm
Cut or Dye – Mon to Sat – 9.30 to 8pm
Cafe SW19 – Mon to Sat. – 6am to 5pm
The Holy Trinity Church – Mon: 11 to 2 & 4 to 6pm – wed: 11 to 2pm – Thur: 2 to 6pm
The Antoinette Hotel – 7am to 11 pm
YMCA – Mon-Fri : 7am to 10pm – Sat/Sun: 8am to 8pm
Pause/Frame by The Koppel Project – Thur to Sun – 12 to 6pm
The exhibition ran from May to July 2025