BMG Art presents Can we be other than who we are?, a solo exhibition by Australian artist Christopher Orchard, on view from November 7 to November 21, 2026, at Mezzanine 55 in Kent Town, South Australia. The exhibition brings together a new series of drawings developed during the artist’s three-month residency at Acme Fire Station Studios in London. Taking a question posed by artist William Kentridge as its starting point, Orchard explores the possibility of moving beyond fixed notions of identity and the boundaries of the self.

Working primarily with charcoal on paper, Orchard creates an imaginative visual world populated by anthropomorphic figures, donkeys, Pulcinellas and various characters in disguise. A recurring bald avatar appears throughout the works, occupying the shifting roles of both observer and observed. Through this developing cast of shape-shifters, pseudo-scientists and doppelgängers, the artist constructs a theatrical environment in which familiar identities become unstable and the distinction between appearance and reality is continually questioned.

The exhibition examines identity as something fluid and changeable rather than fixed or predetermined. Through theatrical imagery, unexpected transformations and playful visual associations, Orchard invites viewers to reconsider how individuals perceive themselves and are perceived by others. The works explore the possibilities of becoming someone—or something—different, while leaving open the question of whether we can ever truly escape who we are. This body of work was created with the assistance of Create SA.