Black Alice Poster Series: Psychedelic Visions Of Alice In Wonderland

by | Jul 11, 2013 | ART

If you’ve got even one dollar to spare, Black Alice is the project to spend it on. With your help, Black Alice, a screen-printed, black light poster series, will be a set of 16 original art works that focus around the ideas and images that appear in Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Curated by local poster design collective Team Eight and bringing together eight artists and a very unique coloring process, the images and colors in Black Alice are sure to bring back memories from childhood, as well as evoking the psychedelic culture of the 60s and 70s. The artists involved are raising funds for the creation of the Black Alice poster series on Kickstarter. They only have until Monday, July 15 at 9 PM to reach their goal, and would greatly appreciate your help in making their dream into a reality.


If you’ve got even one dollar to spare, Black Alice is the project to spend it on. With your help, Black Alice, a screen-printed, black light poster series, will be a set of 16 original art works that focus around the ideas and images that appear in Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Curated by local poster design collective Team Eight and bringing together eight artists and a very unique coloring process, the images and colors in Black Alice are sure to bring back memories from childhood, as well as evoking the psychedelic culture of the 60s and 70s. The artists involved are raising funds for the creation of the Black Alice poster series on Kickstarter. They only have until Monday, July 15 at 9 PM to reach their goal, and would greatly appreciate your help in making their dream into a reality.


Rebecca Sugar

Each of the eight artists will construct two images; one which illustrates a character from either Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland or Through the Looking Glass, and another which will either depict a passage from one of the books or recreate one of the original illustrations by John Tenniel. This exemplification of duality and transformation shows the true essence and theme of both novels by Carroll. If you have ever been a fan of the books or the movies, these posters will not disappoint.


Noah Scalin

Maryland artist Frans Boukas came up with the initial inspiration for the project. Upon seeing the results of Team Eight’s recent experimentations with black lights, he immediately applied it to the dream-like perplexity that is ever-present in Alice. From there, he and seven other likeminded artists got to work. Each artist was paired with a character that matched his or her personality and artistic style. The artists enlisted to help with the project include Team Eight’s Spencer Hansen and Matt Deans, RVA artists Noah Scalin and James “Barf” Callahan, Adventure Time animator Rebecca Sugar, online comic artist Meg Gandy, and former RVA/current Brooklyn-based illustrator Barry Bruner.


James Callahan

The screen-printing process is very intricate, and this intricacy is why Team Eight needs assistance in funding. Using a combination of standard and black light inks, the artists will be able to have two different scenes taking place in one poster. One image will appear in normal daylight, and the second will come alive under black light. This duality allows each poster to tell two different stories depending on what lighting it is placed in. This coloration not only allows the artists to depict two different stories, but also allows them to use the vibrant colors from rock art of the 60s and 70s while maintaining respect for Tenniel’s original artwork.


Matt Deans

Pledging one dollar is a good start, starting with pledges of eight dollars you begin to get rewards for helping out these artists. For a pledge of eight dollars, the reward is a black light banner post card. Bump the pledge up to $15 and they will add an official Black Alice black light bulb. At $25, the prizes start to get really good with an 8 ½’’ x 11’’ print of your choice. The print size becomes 18” x 24” if you pledge $55. The prizes continue to grow in size and number up to a $400 pledge, which will get you the entire series. If you happen to have a lot of money to spare, say, $1200, the artists will illustrate your favorite passage or character solely for you.

Alice believed that her dream was reality. Help these artists make their dream, and hers, into one. To learn more about Black Alice, and to pledge, visit the Kickstarter page:

Marilyn Drew Necci

Marilyn Drew Necci

Former GayRVA editor-in-chief, RVA Magazine editor for print and web. Anxiety expert, proud trans woman, happily married.




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