A young artist who was ‘highly commended’ in Warrington’s most prestigious art competition is now enjoying her first solo exhibition.
Alice Cornelia won special recognition in the Warrington Contemporary Arts Festival Open competition after impressing judges with the standard of her pieces entitled Back Now and Tip.
Expanding on that work, her new exhibition is also called Back Now and is currently intriguing visitors at Warrington Museum & Art Gallery.
The 23-year-old from Warrington studied BTEC art & design and art foundation at Priestley College before going on to study at the Glasgow School of Art.
Following her graduation in June 2018, Alice returned to her home town and began looking for funded opportunities.
“I felt the opportunity offered to the winner of WCAF’s Open competition would be really helpful for me as a young, emerging artist.
“It was great to be highly commended; it’s a good feeling when somebody has found an element in your work they find appealing.
“It also led on to this, my first solo exhibition, as well as professional practice workshops and useful networking, so it was an all-round positive experience.
“I’ve done quite a few group exhibitions in Glasgow but this is my first solo show, and the first time I’m really pushing the installation and moving image aspect of my practice.”
Back Now questions boundaries between documentary and fiction, inviting a discussion into the process of representation through collective memory and material reality.
Alice described the body of work as having a “playful relationship between representation and abstraction, and between the moving and still image”.
She said: “The work raises awareness of how little we know about reality through images, and how easily our imagination compensates.”
Intriguingly, when asked what she would say to draw in visitors, Alice added: “Come and spot the balloons!”
Alice is looking forward to securing further solo exhibitions in the future and plans to take part in a project to transform old shop units in the East End of Glasgow into shared studio, exhibition and workshop spaces.
Listings information
Exhibition title: Alice Cornelia: Back Now
Dates: Saturday June 22, 2019
Times: all day
Admission: free
Location: Warrington Museum & Art Gallery, Museum Street, Warrington, WA1 1JB
