Alice Rolfe

Alice Rolfe is a London based artist.

She makes work from items of memorabilia and from her own experiences surrounding death.

Her ideas are based on memory, loss and identity, often focusing on the fear of forgetting the identity of a person, or their memory.

She is also interested in how life experiences affect a person, evidence of which is seen in the execution of her work.

About

Alice Rolfe's work arises from her intense involvement with stories, objects and events from her past.

She explores themes of memory, the construction of identities, absence, death and loss.
Often using everyday objects and real documents such as photos and newspaper clippings, she arranges them in an order where the viewer is invited to construct a narrative, extracting new meaning from the artist's possible real or fictional family history.

She employs methods such as intricate repetition and obsessive documentation to create work that demands the viewers’ time and emotional attention.
In ‘Fear of Forgetting’ Rolfe documents memories of her deceased father offered by friends. She researched their comments, ordered them, displayed them filling 28 draws, then documented the items (books, letters, music, items describing his character) in a catalogue or guide listing every item and any relevant story attached to it.

In other works Rolfe had repeatedly drawn the same subject. "Cobwebs"
is an example, where 30 different webs were drawn onto carbon paper and displayed in a precise and reparative fashion suggesting these drawings could be just part of an almost infinite archive and offer the ultimate anonymity of death. Difficult subjects such as death and memory being the driving thoughts behind her work, she is able to present uncomfortable and painful issues with calm composure creating thoughtful and reflective art works.

Portfolio

C.V.

Relevant Education

  • 18/09/2007-present
    First class (Hons)degree in Fine Art: Sculpture, Wimbledon School of Art, London.

  • 2006
    Foundation in Art and Design, University of the West of England, Bristol, with distinction.

Relevant Work Experience

  • currently
    Assisting Artist Jamie Shovlin

  • currently
    Simon Millington and Associates

  • Aug 07
    Assisting Artist Tania Kovats

  • July 07
    Jerwood Drawing Prize

  • June 07
    2007 Degree Show

  • 06
    Simon Millington and Associates

Exhibitions

  • July 07
    Street Blitz. TAA (Temporaty Arts Association) London fields, London.

  • May 07
    Random Art at 15-25 New North Road, Old Street, London.

  • Mar 07
    Random Art and Kultra Jinak. Trafacka Arena, Prague, Czech Republic.

  • Mar 07
    ‘No Common Thing’. Dragon Bar Gallery, Old St, London.

  • Mar 07
    ‘Shoes Without Laces’ Curated by Serya Rodregues. WCA, London.

  • May 06
    ‘Something for the weekend’ The Readymaids. Hotel Russell, London.

  • May 06
    ‘Park’, Cannizaro Park, London

  • Feb 06
    ‘Our Thoughts Compressed’, temporarycontemporary, London.

  • Sept 05
    ‘Phantasmagoria’, Nolia’s Gallery, London.

  • Apr 04
    ‘Art Funk’ @ The Blag Club. Camelot Studios, London..

University Exhibitions

  • June 07
    Wimbledon College of Art 2007 Degree show.

  • Jan 07
    ‘Big Breath’ Wimbledon College of Art, London.

  • Feb 06
    ‘Park’, Cannizaro Park, London

  • Feb 06
    Wallpaper, The Instillation Room, Wimbledon College of Art, London. .

  • Mar 06
    Wood You? Wimbledon College of Art, London.

  • Oct 05
    Foyer show, Wimbledon College of Art, London.

  • June 05
    ‘Test Tube’, Wimbledon College of Art, London.

  • Feb 05
    ‘Remember your first time’ Wimbledon College of Art, London.

  • Jan 05
    Foyer show, Wimbledon College of Art, London.

  • Oct 04
    The Installation Room, Wimbledon College of Art, London

Publications

  • 2007
    WCA 2007 Degree show catalogue.

  • 2007
    Random Art in Prague catalogue.

  • 2006
    I Screen Printed the first additions of ‘This is a waste of time, paper and ink’ Magazine.

Voluntary work

  • 2005-06
    I Volunteered in the arts department of an after school club for refugees and asylum

  • 2006-07
    I acted as a mentor for a foundation student at WSA. seekers, Tooting, London.

  • March 06
    Working as an artist in residence during my work placement at Studio Upstairs, London.

  • March 05
    Working as part of a group assisting artists Tamiko O’Brien and Mark Dunhill with an instillation piece called ‘Sculptomatic’. Farnham, Surrey.

  • June 1999
    Assisted artist Susannah Brooks with her site specific piece, Ashton Court forest, Bristol.

 

Contact

I am currently accepting new projects. If you have any questions please get in touch.

E: info (at) alicerolfe.com
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