Alice Macdonald
Alice Macdonald is a London-based artist whose diaristic paintings are informed by a broad range of sources spanning historical literature, classic films, myths, fairytales, memories, and friends and family painted from life. Fascinated by the complexities of human behaviour, emotion and relationships, she is attracted to the cinematic and the melodramatic, as well as the idea of role-playing. In her words: ‘I am interested in my subjects' psychological state and innermost thoughts and feelings but, dichotomously, I am also fascinated by the impossibility of knowing what these really are’.
Alice’s jewel-like works on paper form a core part of her practice, their smaller scale lending them an intense, voyeuristic quality. She has also recently started experimenting with ceramics; the malleable qualities of this medium relate closely to her dynamic painting style. Her most recently paintings and works on paper are tactile and highly textured. Featuring cut-out and pinned down hessian, their collaged surfaces give each work a sense of fragility which relates to the artist’s drawings. In Alice’s words; I want the viewer to be aware that the image is a construction, and it is a rickety one that could easily be altered.’
Alice studied at Falmouth University (2011- 2014) followed by the Royal Drawing School (2016 - 2017). Since graduating, she has undertaken several artistic residencies including the Dumfries House Residency, Scotland, the IIFA Teaching Residency, Modinagar, India and the Scuola Graphica Internazionale Printmaking residency, Venice, Italy. She has exhibited her work widely in the UK in group exhibitions including the Denton's Art Prize, London (2021) and the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts (2019); in early 2022 a solo exhibition of her work was presented by Paint Talk in London. She was awarded the Great Art Prize, given at the National Original Print Exhibition, 2017 and most recently was presented with the RWS Young Artist Award at the Royal Watercolour Society Open, Bankside Gallery, London. Oliver Projects has presented her work in several group exhibitions in London. We also launched new prints by Alice at the Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair in 2022 and 2023. Alice’s first solo exhibition outside the UK was held in Seoul, South Korea, in June 2023 at LKIF Gallery. In December 2024, Soho Revue, London, presented a joint exhibition of Alice’s work alongside work by Joana Galego. Oliver Projects presented new work by Alice at the 2025 London Art Fair. Alice is based in south east London.
Shop works by Alice Macdonald
Monoprint with etching, 55.5 x 76cm
Alice Macdonald is an emerging, London-based artist whose diaristic paintings are informed by a broad range of sources spanning historical literature, classic films, myths, fairytales, memories, and friends and family painted from life. Fascinated by the complexities of human behaviour, emotion and relationships, she is attracted to the cinematic and the melodramatic, as well as the idea of role-playing. In her words: ‘I am interested in my subjects' psychological state and innermost thoughts and feelings but, dichotomously, I am also fascinated by the impossibility of knowing what these really are’.
This new monoprint is part of a small variable edition of four plus two artist’s proofs. These works are based on drawings from life and then printed using copper and tetra-pack plates; this technique allows the artist to play around with the positioning of various components in the composition so that each print in the series is unique. The initial drawings for ‘Time Stands Still for a Moment’ were made during a camping holiday in Suffolk:
‘I woke up quite early and saw the horse in the next door field; I was fascinated by the exercise machine it was in - like a treadmill. The horse was going round and round in circles.
Around the same time I was reading a book by Carlo Rovelli about time. He talks about time being change - changes are a marker of time. I was thinking about this as I watched the horse go round and round repetitively. If nothing changes, does time stop?’.
Alice studied at Falmouth University (2011- 2014) followed by the Royal Drawing School (2016 - 2017). Since graduating, she has undertaken several artistic residencies in locations including Scotland, India and Italy. She has exhibited her work widely in the UK in group exhibitions including the Denton's Art Prize, London (2021) and the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts (2021, 2 and 3). She was awarded the Great Art Prize, given at the National Original Print Exhibition, 2017, and the RWS Young Artist Award at the Royal Watercolour Society Open, Bankside Gallery, London. In September 2023 she graduated with an MA from City and Guilds of London Art School, winning the ASC Studio Residency Award. Alice is based in south east London.
Monoprint with etching and aquatint, 76 x 55cm
Alice Macdonald is an emerging, London-based artist whose diaristic paintings are informed by a broad range of sources spanning historical literature, classic films, myths, fairytales, memories, and friends and family painted from life. Fascinated by the complexities of human behaviour, emotion and relationships, she is attracted to the cinematic and the melodramatic, as well as the idea of role-playing. In her words: ‘I am interested in my subjects' psychological state and innermost thoughts and feelings but, dichotomously, I am also fascinated by the impossibility of knowing what these really are’.
In this unframed unique print, the artist has made combining monoprint, aquatint and etching techniques. This combination gives the work’s surface a painterly quality whilst allowing the artist to add linear details, like the potted plants and the curtains. Views through windows are a recurring motif in Alice’s works . A blustery scene through the panes commands the top half of this composition, whilst a figure works away at a oversize table below. Whilst she is safe from the storm outside, the scene evokes a sense of unease; the figure could be easily overwhelmed by the oversize scale of the objects around her.
Alice studied at Falmouth University (2011- 2014) followed by the Royal Drawing School (2016 - 2017). Since graduating, she has undertaken several artistic residencies in locations including Scotland, India and Italy. She has exhibited her work widely in the UK in group exhibitions including the Denton's Art Prize, London (2021) and the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts (2021, 2 and 3). She was awarded the Great Art Prize, given at the National Original Print Exhibition, 2017, and the RWS Young Artist Award at the Royal Watercolour Society Open, Bankside Gallery, London. In September 2023 she graduated with an MA from City and Guilds of London Art School, winning the ASC Studio Residency Award. Alice is based in south east London.
Gouache and collage on paper, 40 × 30cm
Alice Macdonald is an emerging, London-based artist whose diaristic paintings are informed by a broad range of sources spanning historical literature, myths, fairytales, memories, and friends and family painted from life. Fascinated by the complexities of human behaviour, emotion and relationships, she is attracted to the cinematic and the melodramatic, whether drawing scenes from classic films, or painting in the landscape.
This unframed new work on paper is part of our 2025 London Art Fair presentation. It is a part of a body of unique works on paper which were made during Alice’s recent artistic residency at Clover Mill in the Netherlands, where she worked from life in the grounds of the Mill. Having time to focus on works on paper allowed the artist to work more freely, resulting a vibrant new body of work, many which - like this one- feature collaged elements which lend a dynamic quality. This textured painting on paper is one a a closely-related pair which evolved from sketchbook drawings that the artist took with her of a friend.
Alice studied at Falmouth University (2011- 2014) followed by the Royal Drawing School (2016 - 2017). Since graduating, she has undertaken several artistic residencies in locations including Scotland, India and Italy. She has exhibited her work widely in the UK in group exhibitions including the Denton's Art Prize, London (2021) and the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts (2021, 2 and 3); a solo exhibition was presented in LKIF Gallery, Seoul, Korea in 2023. She was awarded the Great Art Prize, given at the National Original Print Exhibition, 2017, and the RWS Young Artist Award at the Royal Watercolour Society Open, Bankside Gallery, London. In September 2023 she graduated with an MA from City and Guilds of London Art School, winning the ASC Studio Residency Award. Oliver Projects has exhibited her work on several occasions including at the Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair in 2022 and 2023. Soho Revue presented a joint exhibition of her work with Joana Galego in December 2024. Alice is based in south east London.