The past few years have felt borderline dystopian. Covid lockdowns emptied cities and forced us apart from friends and family. Woke fervour has exploded on to the streets and has captured our institutions. We are constantly bombarded with propaganda telling us that normal, everyday views and behaviour are either racist or transphobic – or are a threat to the climate or public health. But despite the strangeness of this New Normal, there have been very few artists or satirists willing to really question any of it. Indeed, most of the artworld appears to be very much on side with this new regime.

One notable exception is British artist Miriam Elia. Her past work has taken aim at everything from conceptual art to Islamism. Now her latest exhibition, The New Normal, holds a mirror up to the irrationality of life during and after the pandemic. spiked caught up with Elia to find out more about her work.