Alice West

Reflection on the grief of losing a close friend at a young age

One part of a diptych reflecting on the some what conflicting emotions of sadness and anger that comes with grief.

One part of a diptych reflecting on the some what conflicting emotions of sadness and anger that comes with grief.

Depiction of a quiet conversation at a party accompanied by an overly decorative border

I was very inspired by a painting by Agnolo Bronzino of a woman with her dog, painted in 1533. The regality of the work struck me, and I started to think who in my life carried themselves in this way. It occurred to me, my friend Juwon not only had the same grace as this portrait, but also the lavish wardrobe to match.

A painting based on Frida Kahlo’s ‘Me and My Parrots’. I love Kahlo’s depiction of the subject (especially as I have an enthusiasm for parrots) and wanted to bring it into my universe.

This is the first in a series of three paintings I did this year reflecting and commending three different phases of my life that heavily involved pies. Telling this narrative through pies was my small way of referencing the kiwi culture around savoury pies as well as celebrating the British classic, the Shepherds Pie which I ate before brownies every Thursday night as a child.

This portrait is with the vegetarian pie from the Courtney Street Bakery I would get on my way home from a night out. I was around 18 or 19 at the time and like many people that age I felt very lost. It felt like such a dark time in many ways, putting myself into situations with men just for validation from them, not taking my dwindling mental health seriously and drinking excessively to deal with it all. At the time, I didn’t know there would be an end to those feelings.

The final painting in this series for the moment, this is the stage of Alice that I am at now, I’ve been through therapy, got medicated and although life still has a way it is so much easier in this time.

A painting based off of a photo I took one night at my friend Ruby’s place. We created such sweet memories in that home over the 4 years of studying together. We would often be invited round for dinner then as the drinks kept coming it would almost always devolve into a party by the end of the night. The house, and my friend group, create a space we could all dress up and act a fool no matter our gender identity. This was Maarten pretending to straighten his buzz cut with Ruby’s straighteners.

This work was based on a memory I have from living in Dubai, my mum would occasionally go to the watch soul to #treatherself to a new watch. The shop would always be quiet so we would have the attention of nearly all the shop attendants on us. We would be taken into a small back room to go see the good fakes (maybe my love of bootleg merch started here?) and the atmosphere would feel so tense to me. I would not be aware of why but as I reflected on the situation in later years I have the feeling that it was something to do with the power dynamics of being two white women in a space run by Arabian men. Both of us have certain privileges that we do not share between us. I think it’s interesting that as a child you can pick up on the feeling in a room without knowing the reason for it. In making this painting I didn’t have an agenda other than to open up conversation around this memory and to use it as a formal experiment in using repetition to fill a space rather than pattern. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this piece or your own memories triggered by the work

I firmly believe that art should be lived alongside wherever possible so I wanted to create a tile floor for one of my graduation spaces. Not only did it serve as practical art, but also immerse the observer into a whole interior of my work as they stepped in to the room. The tiles I hand glazed with all sort of drawings from my sketch books over the years to tell one chaotic, jumbled narrative of my life.

Based on a co-worker I had at the beach club I’ve worked at the last four years. This woman has extended to me endless positivity and kindness in a very tiring and demanding job. I adore that she sits by the bathrooms all day chain smoking, sipping rosé, bantering with guests and cleaning the bathrooms. She works so hard at such an age to continue to support herself and her disabled son.

This piece is more of a study of different mark making techniques as well as bringing elements of craft in to a Fine Arts realm, with the marbled pattern that makes up the water. I enjoyed creating the composition of such an isolated character within such a large space.

Depiction of a real-life happening that occurred when my friend fell asleep with a battery in her vagina and woke up to it having opened, giving her large acid burns internally.

This was a piece I started in April lockdown last year. I was inspired by Italian Renaissance composition in paintings such as the last judgement, the figures piled up on top of each other, twisting and turning. I wanted to attempt to create something as epic as well as trying to create a painting that has the same ‘overall effect’ of a decorative pattern. This in my mind is set in a bar, and they are all green from the craziness of lockdown and overall stress of the human experience.