A diary of an artist caught between the reality and dream; inner and outter worlds; starting and finishing a work; making and becoming the work itself.
Alice Stokes
drawing | sculpture | photomedia | installation
hello@alicealice.art
Instagram: @alicealiceart
CV
These works were chaotically photographed in the frantic anxiety before flying from Kyoto to Seoul. In the eerily peaceful aftermath, they were then reimagined for the screen and the collective dream-scroll in the internet.
‘Shadow Leaves’, 2026, paper clay and sumi-e ink, 23 components, various dimensions, approx. 3 × 7 cm each.
‘Branches Stare’, 2026, natural branches, paper clay, and sumi-e ink, 8 components, various dimensions, lengths ranging from 15–78 cm.
‘Noh Mask Eyes Folded’, 2026, graphite on paper, 5 components, 14.5 x 19 cm.
Exhibition : 2-7 June 2026 (12:00-19:00 / -17:00 last day)
Art Gallery Hyakkei : @aghyakkei
50 Okazaki Kitagosho-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8336, Japan
Gallery ALC : @kyoto.okazaki_gallery_library
2F/3F TM Building, 51-8 Okazaki Kitagosho-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8336
Apr 2026
S h a d o w L e a v e s :
Scattered in on a breeze from the night dream. Blurry-eyed and caught on the edge of morning, on the shores of sleep.
These paper clay leaves hold the imprint of fallen forest debris from Kyoto, Japan. Like fingerprints, infinitely unique and each with their own life story of birth, death and decay. Painted black as the night behind our eyelids. Black as the backdrop that stars float in.
Some mornings, a dream will cling a little longer than the others. As if fragments from your inner world soaked through to your waking life.
B r a n c h e s S t a r e :
There is a concept that the world you perceive is a mirror reflection. In this sense the internal and external co-create your experience of reality. One might not be conscious of everything projected onto the world (the old chip on the shoulder). But like looking at a mirror, when you do look out onto the world, you might find your world watching you back, waiting.
These branches grew in the forests of Kyoto and fell into the painted ink, black shadows of a dream. Their eyes drawn in shiny graphite are not easily found (or photographed) on this curved surface. Staring patiently.
N o h M a s k E y e s F o l d e d :
A mask mimics the surface of a face. Through the Noh Mask, the deep depths of emotion are openly conjured and transmuted into the performance. The eyes of our face can both accidentally reveal and stoically block any leaking feelings.
The face as a surface where emotions unfold. These folded drawings play with the idea of the surface of a mask unfolded and what is in front and behind the eyes, a projection or retraction of emotions. Eyes drawn floating in the shadows where we hide our secrets and watch our dreams.