Alice Cleary
I am a Manchester born and based artist who works as an animator and illustrates in my free time. My work focuses on combining digital and analog techniques to create narratives and brand identities.
From storyboarding and coming up with creative concepts, to easing the final few key frames, here are some of my favourite projects.
Alongside my motion practise, I make art, both digitally and by hand. Some of this work has been shown in exhibitions. Here are my most recent creations.
I am a Manchester born and based artist who works as an animator and illustrates in my free time. My work focuses on combining digital and analog techniques to create narratives and brand identities.
If you have an idea for an animation, illustration or big crazy fine art piece, please drop me a message or an email.
alicecleary@outlook.com
Zine / Illustration
“Voices from the Dead” seeks to bring to light the stories of queer people who lost their lives from the AIDs epidemic. The quotes are selected from the “The Hall-Carpenter Oral History Project” which features over 100 interviews of gay and lesbian people in Britain from the late 1980s to mid 1990s and is archived in the British Library. The illustrations are inspired by the BBC series "AIDS: The Unheard Tapes", where each tape recording was lip-synched by an actor who physically resembled the person who was interviewed.
This zine was featured in Antwerp Mansion: Seance Exhibition in October 2024.
Digital Illustration
Inspired by the idyllic coastal scenery of Northumberland, “Where are you going?” was created as part of a “4 panel project”; a challenge to refine abstract thought into something tangible and convey artistic ideas in just 4 panels.
Restricting to a 4-piece narrative structure created a space which exists between the panels, allowing the viewer to fill in the gaps with their own thoughts, questions, and memories. “Where are they going?” encourages the viewer to draw on their experiences of being surrounded by nature how this elicits questions of their relationship with the world around them.
This poster was selected to be part of the Ink & Imagination Exhibition in November 2024.
Mixed Media
In my practise, nothing is thrown away. If I'm not happy with how something turns out, I will rip it up and use it as part another piece. I even keep the tissues I used to dry my paint brushes. Here I have applied this philosophy to journaling. I've taken apart some of my most painful and embarrassing feelings and experiences and reworked them into art, where they're ambiguity allows the viewer to create new meaning and interpretations. Nothing is wasted. The inclusion of life drawings reflects the thrill of being so vulnerable and hidden at the same time; the subjects only show parts of their naked body, their faces are hidden or out of sight.
This work was featured in Chorlton Arts Festival in May 2025.
Mixed Media
Emotions such as anxiety, sadness and anger can have a visceral impact on the body. "Weathering the Storm" captures this transcendental space, when emotions become so all consuming that, like the weather, they affect everything around you and are completely out of your control. At the same time there is a catharsis of holding yourself and letting them wash over you, as like the storm, they will pass.
This work was featured in Chorlton Arts Festival in May 2025.
Painting
A body of painted work exploring pattern, colour and narrative. Selected pieces from this series have been shown in group exhibitions in Manchester.
Illustration
Illustration made to accompany ideas: editorial pieces that translate a story or argument into image. Pen, ink and digital, depending on the brief.
Mixed Media
A mixed-media series combining painting with collage, texture and found materials. Work from this series was exhibited as part of a curated group show.
Works on Paper
Sketchbook work, life drawing and observational studies. The quieter, more personal side of the practice. Where ideas begin.
Small-run prints made from original paintings and drawings. Each edition is numbered and hand-signed. Available to buy. Get in touch if you're interested.
Commission
Original artwork made to order: portraits, gifts, interiors. If you have something in mind, get in touch and we can talk through ideas and materials.
Candle Making
“Tokens from another world” is a candle making project inspired by fossils. By unearthing the empty space where organic material has decayed, we are given a snapshot of animal and plant life long before humans walked the earth.
Each candle in the collection relates to a specific fossil discovery. Scents and colours evoke the fossil’s natural world of animal, plant and ocean life, along with stone pieces offering a tactile reminder of the earth that they came from. When lit they release sensory memories of the distant past, another token of a world out of reach.