As both an illustrative subject and an analytical gaze, the way a stranger looks reveals the notes we take as the keepers of things left behind—whether inherited or found. In its double meaning, 'the way a stranger looks' can refer both to the physical and spiritual description of a stranger made by an audience, or the lens we take as an audience to something extrinsic—be it a person, place, belief, or moment. These are the little evidences of being alive that we hold onto and absorb within our sacred personal structures, as writer and academic Chelsea Watego asserts: “I tell these stories to enter into a conversation, one which others can be privy to; one that many of us have had at our kitchen tables.”

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These artists are strangers to the stories they tell. In emulating them through their artistic practice, they do not attempt to distance themselves from their strangerhood, nor do they seek to fully understand it. With tender dedication, these artists peel back the layers of human experience, revisiting places and moments important to them, thus making them important to their audience. 'The way a stranger looks' reveals the deepest and truest origins of art; storytelling, exploration, deeper histories, power dynamics, the nuanced politics of spirituality, uncovering personal experiences as reflected in fragments of past lives, rituals, and inherited practices.

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'The way a stranger looks' is not merely a reflection of an outer appearance, but a window into the complexities of human existence. It is through the stories shared and the art created that we bridge the gap between the known and the unknown, the familiar and the foreign. The stranger’s gaze, in its layered meanings, invites us to examine not only the lives of others but our own - challenging us to rethink the boundaries of identity, connection, and history. Through this lens, art becomes a tool of both reflection and revelation, allowing the artists to navigate the intricacies of our collective and individual experiences.

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'I am because my little dog knows me.' - Gertrude Stein

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Curated by Tabitha Glanville.

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Including artists: Bryan Foong, Ellen Yeong Gyeong Son, Jessica Guo, Joseph Doggett-Williams, Naoise Halloran-Mackay, Prudence Wilkinson.