alice & co.

When I was three years old I dreamt that the moon broke. My grandmother wrote this dream  into a story, titled Alice & Company, detailing how my stuffed animals and I repaired it. Because it was initially based on my own toddler dreams, the illustrations have always existed in my own mind. While others have been able to read the story my grandmother wrote, I always felt like nobody got to see the complete version besides me. 

The pages are bound with an accordion-fold that makes each page pop out. The drawings were made in a similar way to how I draw and paint in my sketchbooks, using  pencil and ink and then coloring with various water-based paints. This project was created with a more organized version of that routine, favoring completeness of each page over completeness of each detail. I wanted this book to evoke the nostalgic ideal of a classic storybook in order to explore an interest in my own nostalgia, an interest I definitely inherited from my Grandmother.

My grandmother passed away in April of 2024. I think about her all the time since, and how she connected with me through the act of creativity. I inherit my love of stories and history and art from her. By transforming her words into this project I maintain my connection to her very literally, collaborating despite impossible distances.