Alice Irwin British, b. 1994

Alice Irwin’s distinctive visual language navigates the boundary between figuration and abstraction. Repeating symbols, simplified bodily forms, and bold colour palettes - typically in vivid pinks, oranges, and blues - are characteristic of her practice. Childhood experiences, games, and shared memories surface throughout her sculptures and prints, forming a vibrant conversation between past and present. In a world increasingly saturated by the relentless forward-motion of modern life, Irwin’s work provides a deliberate break - a moment of elusion and elation suspended between today and tomorrow. Her practice invites us to exist in a liminal realm: to acknowledge the chaos of the outside world whilst setting it aside, momentarily, through engagement with art. Irwin creates spaces where we can be present, where the weight of daily overwhelm lifts, if only for a moment, replaced by curiosity and playfulness. Amid the noise and speed of contemporary life, the artist asks us to switch off - not through avoidance, but by leaning into joy.

Irwin’s work embodies sensory contrasts: some elements feel distinctly tactile, conjuring the urge to touch, grasp or play; others evoke kinetic, almost electric, experiences in the mind. Sculptural forms, repeating motifs and vivid colours pulse with energy, simultaneously inviting childhood nostalgia and provoking new interpretations. Irwin explores the contrasts within childhood itself: between innocence and awareness, naivety and confidence, joy and anxiety. Her work speaks to audiences from all walks of life, encouraging them to meander through personal memories while uncovering new layers of meaning. 

Irwin received the Contemporary Art Trust Prize in 2017 and graduated from the Royal College of Art, London, in 2018, the same year she presented Life Lived with Play at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Subsequent exhibitions include People Play at The Piece Hall, Halifax (2020), and Playing with Thought at Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens (2021). Her sculptural series Peeps was installed at Trinity Buoy Wharf, London (2022–2023), and later featured in the Shrewsbury Sculpture Trail and Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair’s Art Trail (2024). In 2024, Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery, London, presented Chinwag, her first major exhibition in a London public gallery. More recent exhibitions include A Playground for the Overwhelmed at Gillian Jason Gallery, London (2025), and Peeps at Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens (2026). Her sculpture Streaky Dance (2023) is displayed at Yorkshire Sculpture Park.