Alice Cao (Nhu Cao Quynh Nguyen)
BCU - ‘MA Visual Communication’ application portfolio
Mary Wollstonecraft
A self-initiated project based on the life and legacy of Mary Wollstonecraft, inspired by and in response to the unveiling of “Sculpture for Mary Wollstonecraft” by Maggi Hambling.
The video below covers my full process in creating this illustration, and should also demonstrate my research and presentation skills.
Why Do Our Dreams…?
A series of illustrations done for an exhibition with Cluster Illustration at the Old Truman Brewery Gallery, London, 2019. The theme of the exhibition was completely open.
There are six illustrations in the series - all based on the mini essay, “On Fantasy”, by George R. R. Martin, celebrating the beauty and importance of fantasy fiction in providing escapism from and inspiration for the real world.
Three of the original illustrations for the series were subsequently auctioned in 2020, with all proceeds going to the charity “Mai Tam Shelter”, who works to provide a home and support for mother and children living with HIV in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
The illustration to the right was shortlisted as a Highly Commended Artwork at the VAO Emerging Artist Prize 2020.
Material: Ink + watercolour
After Paradise
The first illustration of a self-initiated ongoing series about re-examining women in mythology whose stories have been historically misconstrued.
The concept started out with just looking at Lilith (Adam’s first wife according to stories omitted from the Bible), looking at how her one act of sexual defiance lead to her ‘fall’, and her being reclaimed later by feminist movements as a ‘femme fatale’.
Through deeper research, the concept was pivoted to be about the relationship between Lilith and Eve - the way they are often portrayed as opposites and pitted against each other by traditionalists and progressives alike despite the many similarities in their stories and circumstances - standing as an early example of the ‘madonna-whore complex’.
The original artwork was submitted to Beautiful Bizarre Art prize 2020.
Material: ink
Love Poems - Book Illustration Competition 2020
(Folio Society + House of Illustration)
Submissions for the Book Illustration Competition 2020 from The Folio Society and House of Illustration. The book chosen for this year was a Love Poems collection, and the three poems selected for the competition are as below.
Material: Watercolour.
Covent Gardener
Submission for the cover of the Covent Garden Autumn Issue 20, themed - ‘All That Is Covent Garden, Past, Present and Future’. This illustration was one of the five shortlisted and ultimately used as an editorial spread for an article in the magazine.
Material: ink
IMPACT! - Headway Cambridgeshire
Posters for the inside and back of buses designed for Headway Cambridgeshire as part of the project “IMPACT!” about the effects of brain injuries in the First World War. Two final designs were presented - one utilising 3D model and photography, the other done with ink and digital manipulation. The client decided on the latter.
Reportage
A sketchbook of illustrations done from direct observation on location, using a dip pen and ink with no preliminary sketches.
The purpose of this self-initiated project was to study and practice how to observe, draw and compose architectural elements from interesting and less expected point of views.
Each drawing took 1-2 hours from start to finish.
Dwellings
A self-initiated exercise in imaginative architecture and landscape. I am usually most comfortable with the portrait orientation and thus wanted to challenge myself with more unusual, and especially horizontal, formats.
The project was done with a dip pen and ink in a leporello sketchbook with no prior planning or sketches. The entire process from beginning to end was also live-streamed on Instagram, every Tuesday and Thursday for two hours every week for three months. The challenge was to adapt to any mistake spontaneously - incorporating them into the drawing instead of editing them out, and to create seamless transitions between different sceneries. Inputs from the live audience was also taken into account, creating unique experiences.
Dissertation for BA (Hons) Illustration - Cambridge School of Art (Anglia Ruskin University)
DEATH AND THE MAIDEN
- A JOURNEY IN ACCEPTING MORTALITY
How does the “Death and the Maiden” motif communicate attitudes towards death in Western Art?
Click here for PDF file.
@alicecaoillustration
