Familiar Characters

Familiar Characters is a photographic series depicting the journey of an adult revisiting childhood, created in Serbia over 3 years. Despite growing up in the aftermath of war, my family’s efforts to preserve the normality and happiness of my childhood allowed me to develop a deep connection and fascination with that time in my life. In that process of returning to my early years, I became a little kid again, playing with toys and creating imaginary kingdoms. Soon enough, memories acquired a strange appeal as I began to piece together a wider picture of events from my early years. I returned to my hometown, finding myself in the old family house and the landscapes surrounding it. In an attempt to preserve a naive memory of childhood, I began painting it over with vivid colors and filling it with playful characters. The uncanny feeling grew stronger as this adventure of an adult revisiting childhood took a strange turn, making me both its host and visitor. The boundaries between past and present, or memory and fact, blurred and became insignificant. My world became one big playground, a field for building new memories and fantasies. As I reimagined my past, these fragmented recollections took on a more universal meaning, becoming a lens through which I explored deeper themes of identity and belonging. Familiar Characters evolved into a personal mythology, not only an exploration of my childhood but also a broader reflection on human nature and our need to preserve our sacred (inner) places.

Familiar Characters is a photographic series depicting the journey of an adult revisiting childhood, created in Serbia over 3 years. Despite growing up in the aftermath of war, my family’s efforts to preserve the normality and happiness of my childhood allowed me to develop a deep connection and fascination with that time in my life. In that process of returning to my early years, I became a little kid again, playing with toys and creating imaginary kingdoms. Soon enough, memories acquired a strange appeal as I began to piece together a wider picture of events from my early years. I returned to my hometown, finding myself in the old family house and the landscapes surrounding it. In an attempt to preserve a naive memory of childhood, I began painting it over with vivid colors and filling it with playful characters. The uncanny feeling grew stronger as this adventure of an adult revisiting childhood took a strange turn, making me both its host and visitor. The boundaries between past and present, or memory and fact, blurred and became insignificant. My world became one big playground, a field for building new memories and fantasies. As I reimagined my past, these fragmented recollections took on a more universal meaning, becoming a lens through which I explored deeper themes of identity and belonging. Familiar Characters evolved into a personal mythology, not only an exploration of my childhood but also a broader reflection on human nature and our need to preserve our sacred (inner) places.