Alice Instone’s work spans phantasmagorical paintings, oracular temples, immersive games, films, music, giant bird-women, collages on ancestry and gardens, a huge cat head you can sit inside, a magic caravan, hand-made books, washing lines of to-do lists, portraits of real and imagined women, and explorations of personal objects. Her visual language is instantly recognisable: jagged shapes, feathery or mist-like marks, and layered surfaces create imagery that is familiar yet uncanny. Stratified paint, glazes, glitter, gold leaf, collage, and even studio sweepings lend a palimpsest quality, while saturated colour, chiaroscuro, and exaggerated form imbue her paintings, sculptures, and films with a luminous, dreamlike quality. Over two decades, she has collaborated with institutions including the United Nations, Oxfam, EY, Chanel, Tate Modern, the British Houses of Parliament, and Hollywood’s Chateau Marmont. Across these diverse forms and collaborations, her work consistently probes the human condition.
At its heart, Instone’s work is portraiture: exploring inner and outer worlds, and the ways people connect to these and to each other. She began by painting women who have shaped the world, from scientists and lawmakers to musicians, businesswomen, and writers, where their stories are as integral to the work as the finished image (21 21st Century Women, 2008; The House of Fallen Women, 2010; She Should Have Known Better, 2013). These projects addressed the absence of women in art history, and challenged gendered histories. She subsequently explored narratives through objects such as shoes (Interview With a Shoe, 2009) and discarded to-do lists (The Pram in the Hall, 2016 and Spell, 2022) which revealed honest portraits of what our lives are made up of, rather than what we might project, and highlighted hidden domestic labour. She has also collected our inner voices, from self-criticism (The Book of Self-Loathing, 2022–24) to memories of our grandmothers (The Book of Grandmothers, 2018–23). These participant-driven works draw audiences in a shared reservoir of personal, intergenerational and collective voices. Her films Oracle (2021), winner of Best Fantasy at Cannes Short Film Festival, and Seeker (2025) extend her engagement with collective storytelling. Instone invites viewers to encounter art as both mirror and doorway: an invitation to recognise ourselves in one another.
Games and interactive frameworks such as The Motherhouse (2022) are central to her practice. Hope, fear, and our shadow side, are embraced to bring about transformation, using ritual, play and reflection as catalysts. Card readings (Playing Cards With My Grandmother, 2018; A Visit to the Oracle, 2023) provide reassurance and connection, while snakes-and-ladders boards (Magic Carpet Fly, 2026) echo life’s unpredictability. Each encounter activates and shapes the work, turning it into a living, evolving experience. Instone has revisited the head repeatedly in paint and sculpture, human and animal form, and in the masks used in her films. The head becomes a site to explore multiplicity: the manifold, contradictory selves we carry. Both object and subject, it is a mine of emotion and consciousness. Across paint, paper, film, or games, the question remains: who are we beneath the masks?
biography
Lives and works on The Isle of Oxney, Kent. English degree from Kings College London and post-grad from University College London, History of Art units at The Courtauld Institute. Worked in advertising and teaching prior to working full time as an artist from 2007
Solo Exhibitions & Projects
2026 Magic Carpet Fly, Luckhurst Studio, Kent
2025 ‘Seeker’ Film
2023 A Visit To The Oracle, Borough Yards, Dirty Lane, London
2022 What Did You See In the Garden Honey? Luckhurst Studio, Kent
2021 ‘Oracle’, Cannes Short Film Festival, France, Winner Best Fantasy
Spell, Luckhurst Studio, Kent
2020 ‘Oracle’ Film
2018 Playing Cards With My Grandmother, multiple London sites:
Reuters Plaza Canary Wharf, Carnaby Street Soho, River Walkway Tate Modern Bankside
for United Nations & International Women’s Day
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 Group Exhibitions & Projects
2024 Women for Women Gala, The Natural History Museum, London
Glebe House, London
2022 Henley Festival sculpture installation, The Hollandridge Group
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
2013 Eliza, Tatton Park
Manchester Contemporary
Art Edinburgh
Art Cheshire
Goodwood House
2012 400 Women, Sugar City Amsterdam
Changing Faces Fundraiser
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
Awards, Residencies & Sponsorships
2023 Borough Yards Sponsorship
2021 Winner Best Fantasy, Cannes Short Film Festival, France
2018 Canary Wharf Group Sponsorship
2018 United Nations Women Partnership
2017 Chateau Marmont Artist in Residence, Hollywood, USA
2016 Allen & Overy Sponsorship
2016, 2018, 2023 Supported by Illuminate Productions
2016 Borough Market London Sponsorship
2012 Rothschild & Co Sponsorship
2010 Woman of Achievement, Woman of the Year
2010 Shell Women of the Future Award Finalist
2010 Herbert Smith Sponsorship
2008, 2009, 2016 EY Sponsorship
Bibliography
The Book of Self Loathing 2024
The Grandmother’s Oracle 2023
Tell Me Everything You Saw And What You Think It Means 2019
Playing Cards With My Grandmother 2018
The Book of Grandmothers 2018
The Pram In The Hall 2016
She Should Have Known Better 2013
Because A Fire Was In My Head 2012
The House of Fallen Women 2010
Interview With A Shoe 2009
21 21st Century Women 2008
Essays
Annie Lennox for 21 21st Century Women (2008)
India Knight for The House of Fallen Women (2010)
Sasha Craddock on The Pram In The Hall (2016)
Alex Preston for Playing Cards With My Grandmother (2018)
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, Juliet Wedderburn, The Hindmarch family, Richard O’Brien, Laura Bailey & Eric Fellner, Emma Freud & Richard Curtis, Kirk Capital, Lord Iliffe & various collections worldwide
Selected Press & Media
The Times, Observer, Guardian, Telegraph, Independent, BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour, Chris Evans BBC Radio 2, Vogue, Bazaar, The Huffington Post, Telva, Radio 4, Radio London, London Live
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, Author
Baroness Shami Chakrabarti - Politician, human rights activist Bay Garnett - Stylist, Author, Editor
Bella Freud - Designer
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
Dame Cilla Snowball CBE - Chairman AMV BBDO
Dame Evelyn Glennie DBE - Percussionist
Dame Jacqueline Wilson DBE - Author Dame Jilly Cooper OBE - Author
Danielle Lineker - Actress & Model
Diana Henry - Cook and Writer
Dianne Thompson CBE - CEO Camelot Plc
Elle Macpherson - Model, Presenter, Actress, Businesswoman
Emilia Fox - Actress
Emma Freud CBE - Actress, Writer, Producer
Empress Stah - Performer
Fiona Banner - 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 and Drag Queen
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 CBE - 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, Actress, 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 - Art Patron
Victoria Miro - Gallerist
