With Alice

At the age of fourteen, Alice began exploring the frustrations she faced as an adolescent, an artist, and a feminist—through her artistic practice. With Alice is a portrait of my cousin Alice, exploring her ever-shifting identity through painting and performance over a two-year period. Alice’s admiration for female characters that appear in 1930s, 40s and 50s films compelled her to paint women of these eras. The paintings blend images of herself with actresses she idolizes. In borrowing and re-working their images, Alice personifies aspects of her own personality inspired by these icons. The photographs in With Alice portray Alice in her creative process, shaping her artwork and herself. In the formal portraits, Alice poses consciously for the camera, performing the women she paints. In participation with one another, we have created portraits of her own embodied icons.