Alice Instone’s work feeds our appetite for illusion, spectacle and meaning. Over two decades, she has collaborated with institutions including the United Nations, Oxfam, EY, Chanel, Tate Modern, the British Houses of Parliament, the National Trust, the British Medical Association, Westminster City Council, Canary Wharf Group, the Royal Society of Arts and Hollywood’s Chateau Marmont. Across these varied contexts, her work consistently probes the human condition.
Her artworks span phantasmagorical paintings, oracular temples, immersive games, films, music, giant bird-women and collages on ancestry and gardens. She has created a huge cat head to sit inside, a magic caravan, hand-made books, washing lines of to-do lists and portraits of real and imagined women. Her distinctive visual language; jagged forms, palimpsest surfaces, and saturated colour, blends the familiar with the uncanny.
Games and interactive works are central to her practice, using play and chance as tools for reflection and transformation. Her participatory projects create reservoirs of human experience (from self criticism to inherited memories) and offer catharsis and connection. At its core, her practice is a form of portraiture. From her early paintings of scientists, musicians, lawmakers and businesswomen, to intimate narratives gleaned from everyday objects such as shoes and discarded to-do lists. Recurring motifs such as the mask explore identity as multiple and contradictory, while her films extend her engagement with storytelling. Across all mediums, Instone invites viewers to encounter art as both mirror and doorway: an invitation to recognise ourselves in one another.
biography
Lives and works on The Isle of Oxney, Kent. Worked in advertising and teaching prior to working full time as an artist from 2007. Degree & Post Grad: Kings College London, The Courtauld Institute & University College London
Solo Exhibitions & Projects
2026 Magic Carpet Fly, Luckhurst, Kent
2025 ‘Seeker’ Film
2023 A Visit To The Oracle, Borough Yards, London
2022 What Did You See In the Garden Honey? Luckhurst, Kent
2021 ‘Oracle’, Cannes Short Film Festival, France, Winner Best Fantasy
Spell, Luckhurst, Kent
2020 ‘Oracle’ Film
2018 Playing Cards With My Grandmother, for United Nations & International Women’s Day, multiple London sites:
Reuters Plaza Canary Wharf, River Walkway Tate Modern Bankside, Carnaby Street Soho
2017 Chateau Marmont Artist in Residence, Hollywood, Los Angeles USA
2016 The Pram In The Hall, 1 Cathedral Street, London
2013 She Should Have Known Better, Lamb House, Rye: National Trust home of Henry James
2012 Because A Fire Was In My Head, Cob Gallery, London
2010 The House of Fallen Women, The House of St Barnabas in Soho, London: former refuge for destitute women
Alice Instone: Interview with A Shoe, Northampton Museum & Art Gallery
Phantom of Delight, Archer Street, London: former brothel, collab with Camilla Broadbent
2009 Interview With A Shoe, BBB Gallery London
Laura Bailey's Lucky Shoes, Chanel Head Office, London
2008 In History Anonymous Was A Woman, Houses of Parliament, London, opened by Baroness Theresa May
21 21st Century Women, 1 More London Place, London, opened by Baroness Helena Kennedy QC
2007 Phenomenal Women, Royal Society of Arts London
Selected Awards, Residencies & Sponsorships
2023 Borough Yards Sponsorship
2023, 2018, 2016 Supported by Illuminate Productions & Arts Council England
2021 Winner Best Fantasy, Cannes Short Film Festival, France
2018 United Nations Women Partnership
2018 Canary Wharf Group Sponsorship
2018 Westminster City Council Partnership
2017 Chateau Marmont Artist in Residence, Hollywood, USA
2016 Allen & Overy Sponsorship
2016, 2009, 2008, EY Sponsorship
2016 Borough Market London Sponsorship
2013 National Trust Partnership
2012 Rothschild & Co Sponsorship
2010 Woman of Achievement, Woman of the Year
2010 Shell Women of the Future Award Finalist
2010 Herbert Smith Sponsorship
Selected Group & Charity Projects
2025 Women for Women Gala, The Natural History Museum, London
2024 Glebe House, London
2023 Henley Festival sculpture installation, The Hollandridge Group
2022 Clermont Film Festival, Clermont-Ferrand, France (Oracle film)
2021 Eye Of The Collector, Temple, London
Cannes Short Film Festival, France
2020 Wings for Lynne Page, choreographer
2019 Combat Stress Fundraiser
2018 The Workings Of My Heart, Cindy Lass, Los Angeles USA
2014 Eliza, Tatton Park, Manchester Contemp., Art Edinburgh, Art Cheshire, Goodwood House
2013 Changing Faces, London
2012 400 Women, Sugar City Amsterdam
2011 Iconoclasts, Lloyds Club London, Pertwee, Anderson & Gold, Edel Assanti, cur Katie Heller
400 Women, Edinburgh Festival
2010 400 Women a project by Tamsyn Challenger, Shoreditch Town Hall London
2009 RA Secret, Royal Academy London
The Exquisite Corpse, & Salon du Thé, Chelsea Arts Club London
2008 Happy Birthday Peace - 50 years of the Peace symbol, London
2007 Chase Contemporary Art, RCA, London
The Heirs of Whistler, Duke of York Square London
2006 The Discerning Eye Selectors Category Baroness Kennedy, Mall Galleries London
Be Contemporary, London
Bibliography
2024 The Book of Self Loathing
2023 The Grandmother’s Oracle
2019 Tell Me Everything You Saw And What You Think It Means
2018 Playing Cards With My Grandmother
2018 The Book of Grandmothers
2016 The Pram In The Hall
2013 She Should Have Known Better
2012 Because A Fire Was In My Head
2010 The House of Fallen Women
2009 Interview With A Shoe
2008 21 21st Century Women
Essays
Alex Preston for Tell Me Everything (2019)
Alex Preston for Playing Cards With My Grandmother (2018)
Sasha Craddock on The Pram In The Hall (2016)
India Knight for The House of Fallen Women (2010)
Annie Lennox for 21 21st Century Women (2008)
Selected Collections
British Medical Association, Museum of Witchcraft & Magic, Evelyn Glennie Foundation, Northampton Museum, Annie Lennox, Tony & Cherie Blair, Baroness Kennedy QC, Val Gooding CBE, Dianne Thompson CBE, Dame Cilla Snowball, Alice Temperley MBE, The Hindmarch family, Richard O’Brien, Laura Bailey & Eric Fellner, Emma Freud & Richard Curtis, Kirk Capital, Lord Iliffe & various collections worldwide
Selected Press & Media
BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour, Chris Evans BBC Radio 2, Radio 4 with Jenny Eclair, Jo Good Radio London, London Live
The Times, The Observer, The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, The Mail, Vogue, Bazaar, Elle, The Huffington Post, Telva, Scotland on Sunday, The Standard
Selection of previous sitters and collaborators:
Alice Temperley – Fashion Designer
Alison Goldfrapp - Musician
Amanda de Cadanet - Photographer, Chat Show Host
Amanda Eliasch - Artist, Film-Maker
Angela Conner FRBS - Sculptor
Ann Francke - CEO Chartered Management Institute
Anita Zabludowicz - Art Patron
Annie Lennox - Musician, Activist
Anya Hindmarch - Designer, Businesswoman
Avery Agnelli - Architect
Baron Woolf - former Chief of Justice
Barbara Taylor Bradford OBE - Author
Baroness Patricia Scotland QC - Minister of State for Justice
Baroness Helena Kennedy QC - Barrister & Broadcaster
Baroness Shami Chakrabarti - Politician, human rights activist Bay Garnett - Stylist, Author, Editor
Bella Freud - Designer & Broadcaster
Beth Colocci - Artist, Curator, Patron
Beverley Knight MBE - Singer, Songwriter, Producer
Bianca Jagger - Human Rights Activist
Caitlin Moran - Journalist and Writer
Cath Kidston MBE - Designer, Businesswoman, Author
Celia Walden - Journalist and Author
Chantal Joffe RA - Artist
Cherie Blair CBE QC - Barrister, Judge, CB Foundation
Claudia Winkleman - TV Presenter
DameCilla Snowball CBE - Chairman AMV BBDO
Dame Evelyn Glennie DBE - Percussionist
Dame Jacqueline Wilson DBE - Author DameJilly Cooper OBE - Author
Danielle Lineker - Actress & Model
Diana Henry - Cook and Writer
Dianne Thompson CBE - CEO Camelot Plc
Elle Macpherson - Model & Businesswoman
Emilia Fox - Actress
Emma Freud CBE - Actress, Writer, Producer
Empress Stah - Performer
Fiona Banner RA - Artist
Fiona Bruce - Journalist & Broadcaster
Fleur Bothwick OBE - Diversity & Inclusive Leadership
Georgie Hopton - Artist
Genevieve Garner – Fashion Editor Libertine
Grace Saunders – Author
Helen McCrory - Actress Hilary Stafford-Clark - Journalist
India Knight – Author, Journalist Indre Serpytyte - Artist
Jo Wood – Organic Entrepreneur
Joanna Berryman – Interior Designer Jodie Harsh - DJ, Drag Queen, Author
Joe Corre - Founder Agent Provocateur
Kathryn Blair – Barrister
Kathryn Nawrockyi - Director Prince’s Trust
Kathy Lette - Author
Lara Bohinc - Designer
Laura Bailey - Model, Writer
Lisa Gunning - Director & Writer
Lisa Moran Parker - Film Producer
Lisa Unwin - Founder of She’s Back
Liz Gilmore - Director Hastings Art Museum
Lola Lennox - Musician
Lorraine Candy - Editor of Elle
Lucy McIntyre - Documentary Maker
Lucy Yeomans - Fashion Editor
Lynne Franks - PR Guru
Lynne Page - Choreographer
Marisa Drew - Banker
Marta Nowicka - Interior Architect
Nazy Vassegh - CEO Masterpiece
Nicole Farhi - Fashion Designer
Pat Cash - Tennis Player
Patti Boyd - Photographer, model
Pinky Lilani OBE - Entrepreneur & Speaker
Prof Baroness Susan Greenfield - Scientist, Broadcaster
Prof Dame Parveen Kumar - Doctor
Rabbi Baroness Neuberger DBE- Politician
Rev Dr Fiona Stewart-Darling - Bishops Chaplain Docklands
Sadie Frost - Actress, Producer, Designer
Sally Williams - Public Art Consultant
Sam Taylor - Editor of The Lady
Sarah Doukas - Founder of Storm
Sarah Shotton - Creative Dir Agent Provocateur
Sir David Hare - Playwright and Screenwriter
Sir Peter Blake - Artist
Sue Crewe - Editor of House & Garden
Susan Daniels OBE - CEO of National Deaf Children’s Society
Susie Cave - Model & Designer
Synthia Griffin - Curator Tate Modern
Terry and Liz de Havilland - Shoe Designers
The Broken Hearts - DJs
Thomasina Miers - Cook, Writer, Presenter
Val Gooding CBE - CEO BUPA
Vanessa Branson - Businesswoman
Victoria Miro - Gallerist
BOOKS
