A R T I S T I N R E S I D E N C E - A P P L I C A T I O N ( I N D I V I D U A L )

BigCi - Bilpin International Ground for Creatives Initiatives
82 Hanlons Road North, Bilpin NSW 2758
https://bigci.org/

Name: Alice Stokes
Gender: Female
Address: U 24 / 1 Gladstone St, Newtown NSW 2042
Currently travelling:
Feb-Apr 2026: Japan
May-Jul 2026: South Korea
Mobile: 0431 713 414
Email: stokes.alice@gmail.com
Website: https://alicealice.art
How I found BigCi: Res artis & friend Raya Dukhun
Drivers License: Unfortunately I do not drive. However, I can ration to weekly grocery trips.
Proposed Dates in order of preference:
Aug - Dec 2026 (5 months)
Aug & Sep 2026 (2 months)
Oct & Nov 2026 (2 months)
Intended length of stay: 2-5 months

1. Describe your project

My practice explores the skin and surface of the world, investigating the boundary between the physical and the non-visible. An inquiry through drawing, sculpture, and installation, of our material reality and its permeability. Poking at the idea of what we perceive as solid and real.

During this residency, I am seeking a period of immersion in the surrounding bush. Currently in a residency in Kyoto, Japan, there is a strong cultural presence of Shinto, where every object has a spirit (kami). The forests here are so gentle, accessible, and alive. A contrast to my childhood experience of the bush in Central NSW / Wiradjuri land - a sparse, dry, and unforgiving landscape. I am curious to experience the feeling of the bush in the Blue Mountains / Darug and Darkinjung land. From the noticeable absence of insects in Kyoto, I anticpate the very active Australian bug life might be a noticeable obsevation and feature in my work.

Recently my work has focused on incorporating graphite frottage rubbings, layered with delicately drawn details - creating a dialogue between the rough textures of the world with a more idealised or dreamlike impression. Presenting these drawings as paper installations with curved forms, draped works and hollow posts, to comment on the so-called stability of our built environments and the conceptual boundary between our experience of waking life and nightly dream states.

2. Outline the expected outcomes of the residency

During the residency, I expect to develop a body of work of drawings and small-scale whittling wood carvings. Through exploratory walks and observations, I aim to gather research and impressions of the material world, whilst relfecting on concepts of play, imagination and animism in the sensory experience.
If possible, I welcome the opportunity to exhibit my work as a temporary installation. I am also interested in documenting these processes and formalising reflections in writing that could support future exhibitions and grant applications.

3. Provide a timeline with your key activities

Weeks 1–2: Immersion in the landscape through regular bush walks, observational drawing, note-taking, and collecting graphite frottage paper impressions. Gathering visual and sensory research, including textures, feelings, and environmental impressions.
Weeks 3–4: Studio-based experimentation, developing drawings and small sculptural works. Testing installation approaches and spatial relationships.
Weeks 5-7: Repeat
Week 8: Editing and refining the through-line in the work created. Installation, documentation, and reflective writing. Preparation for any exhibition, presentation, or open studio event.
This structure remains flexible and responsive to the rhythm and progress through the residency.

4. Special work requirements

My practice requires minimal space. I work primarily indoors but gather inspiration and reset my perspective through outdoor walks. I will bring my own drawing materials and small hand tools for whittling. My installations are adaptable and can be scaled to the available space. If space permits, I would like to bring a large roll of black paper (<2m wide). I do not require specialised equipment.

5. Workshops, lectures, or artist talks

Although I am a nervous public speaker, I would be happy to contribute through an informal artist talk.

6. Exhibition or performance

I welcome the opportunity to present a temporary installation. My work does not require a traditional gallery setting and can respond to alternative or site-responsive spaces. I am open to a short-term exhibition, open studio, or collaborative presentation with other resident artists.

7. Community engagement

I would enjoy connecting with the local community in a gentle and informal way. This could include open studio visits, artist conversations, or a social drawing club.

In recent years, I have adopted a bright red “artist uniform,” inspired by Little Red Riding Hood, which in its brightness and bows, tends to attract curiosity and conversation. I like this quiet performance of an encounter with wonder in everyday, for those who are looking.

Please find below

Supporting Material with explanatory details
CV below

At your convenience, you are welcome to explore my website or instagram.

If you have any questions or require any further documentation, please don’t hesitate to ask. I hope to hear from you soon.

Kind regards,
Alice Stokes

C U R R I C U L U M V I T A E
* below images
b. 1987 Australia
drawing, sculpture, installation.

In red lead, tip toeing into the void, in toe shoes. I enjoy drawing in descriptive detail that both sits on the surface of the page and creates an illusion of form and depth. I also like to include a quiet humour.

A recent paper installation, responding to a sagging ceiling, where the shape of traditional Japanese roof shingles seem to slip off the ceiling and drape onto the floor. The paper scroll (left) is a rubbing from a wooden post in the studio, peeled off and unfurled, like a flayed strip of skin. The post (right) is a hollow paper column, with a rubbing from the studio floor. The red toe shoes are a nod to the custom of leaving your shoes at the threshold of a home or place with tatami mats.

These paper roof shingles take rubbings from the floor and walls of the studio, onto origami paper. Over the centuries, Japanese poetry has described the roof shingles as rippling waves across a sunken city that sits nestled by surrounding mountains.

In close detail the rough rubbing (the spotty dot marks on the left) are overlayed with fine drawing of a 0.3 mechanical pencil (the wavy lines on the right). A meeting of the roughness of reality and the delicate fragility of an idealised view of the world.

The detail of a rubbing to show the contrast of the hard, distinct quality of a support bolt, against the soft and scratchy tectures of the wooden post with all it’s imperfections, knots and wood splits. It is possible that I may incorporate rubbings from the studio/house, in an exploration between the interior and exterior environments and surfaces.

It is difficult to photograph the elusive nature of graphite drawings on black paper. It slips in and out of visibility, depending on the angle of the viewer’s eye in relation to the light source.

An earlier work of spiders spinning spirographs. I am fascinated by the micro world of insects and what thoughts they might be having. The absense of bugs in Kyoto, Japan’s winter is noticeably both curious and strange. I have seen 3 insects this month: a small spider in a cafe, a large beetle in the forest, a fruit fly that appeared out of thin air at the moment I opened a bottle of red wine.

My everyday “uniform” of Little Red Riding Hood, with a wolf-head Halloween mask converted into a handbag. Whether a fairy tale, a tradegy or comedy, we all write a story of some kind with our lives.

A detail of the Little Red Riding Hood dress, with its frills, bows and buttons.

Day 3 of carving a Noh mask (traditional Japanese theatre) from a solid block of wood. Over the next few weeks, I will be whilttling some carvings of fingers and toes from found local branches. At present it is too early for these progress shots just yet.

C U R R I C U L U M V I T A E
Alice Stokes
b. 1987 Australia
drawing, sculpture, photography.

E D U C A T I O N

2012 – 2013
Master of Art Curatorship - University of Sydney, Australia (Sydney NSW)

2009
Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours) in Drawing - National Art School Australia (Sydney NSW)

2005 – 2007
Bachelor of Fine Art in Photography & Sculpture - National Art School Australia (Sydney NSW)

R E S I D E N C I E S

2026 Feb - Mar
Metropolitan Fukujusou Artist Residency (Kyoto, Japan)

2013 Jun – Sep
Takt Kunstprojektraum Artists Residency (Berlin, Germany)

E X H I B I T I O N S

2026 March Open Studios, Studio Tskimisou, Kyoto Japan

2026 February Open Studios, Studio Tskimisou, Kyoto Japan

2022 Witches, Sneaky Possum, Chippendale NSW Australia

2021 Widerschein, Köpenick District Court Prison, Art Institute KuKuKu e.V., Berlin Germany

2019 Here Now, Orange Regional Gallery, Orange NSW Australia

2019 Untitled, Adelarose, Parkes NSW Australia

2018 Australian Gothic, Parkes Shire Library, Parkes NSW Australia

2018 Here Now, Orange Regional Gallery, Orange NSW Australia

2018 Parkes Art of Australia Day, Coventry Room Parkes Shire Library & Cultural Centre NSW Australia

2017 She Scratches, Oblomov Kreuzkoelln, Kreuzberg Berlin Germany

2017 Alice Stokes, 4 Walls Studios, Friedrichshain Berlin Germany

2016 Silver Gelatin, Ragú, Kreuzberg Berlin Germany

2016 Non Plus Ultra Minus Multiverse, curator Antje Görner, Kunstraum Tapir, Berlin Germany

2015 Balloon Moon Finale Atelier Studios, Kunst Etagen Pankow, Berlin Germany

2013 Bobok curator Emet Sosna, Das Gift, Berlin Germany

2013 Real it Up! curator Nina Thorwart, Kunstraum Tapir, Berlin Germany

2013 Von Oakland nach Berlin curator Dickson Schneider, Kunstraum Tapir, Berlin Germany

2011 FONAS Plate Auction, National Art School, Darlinghurst NSW Australia

2010 Oxford Art Prize Exhibition, Oxford Arts Festival 2010, Darlinghurst NSW Australia

2010 Paper Cut, Library Stairwell Gallery National Art School, Darlinghurst NSW Australia

2010 Under the Dust, Xiavier Space, St Vincent’s Hospital, Darlinghurst NSW Australia

2010 Postcard Show, Linden Centre for Contemporary Arts, Melbourne VIC Australia

2009 Holiday Issue, Blanket Magazine, http://blanketmagazine.com

2009 FONAS Plate Auction, National Art School, Darlinghurst NSW Australia

2009 FONAS Postcard Show, National Art School, Darlinghurst NSW Australia

2009 Postgraduate Exhibition, National Art School, Darlinghurst NSW Australia

2008 Photo Portrait, Berkelouw Books, Newtown NSW Australia

2007 Grad Show, National Art School, Darlinghurst NSW

ART INDUSTRY

2022 Oct – 2026 Feb
National Art School (Sydney NSW) Student Services Administration Officer

2020 May – 2021 Jun
Art and Business Pty Ltd (Sydney NSW) Bookkeeper

2013 Jun – Dec & 2014 Oct – 2016 Apr
Takt Kunstprojektraum Artists Residency (Berlin, Germany) Curator & Artists Manager

2012 – 2014
Carriageworks (Sydney NSW) Corporate Services Executive Assistant & Gallery Receptionist

2012 Apr – Oct
NG Art Gallery (Sydney NSW) Co-curator Internship & Arts Administrator

2006 – 2012
Australian Centre for Photography (Sydney NSW) Executive Assistant, Arts Administrator, Accounts, Receptionist & Exhibition Installer