Looking forward to watching the Tim Burton revamp of Alice in Wonderland & while awaiting ;the Book Alice in Wonderland has been newly rendered with illustrations by Camille Rose Garcia, her sweetly macabre work was a perfect partner for Alice. & last Year at a Gallery i saw her works with Candy in mind.
Why Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland?
I was drawn to all of the layered meanings and representations. First there’s the original book—a classic, then there’s the animated Disney movie, and the ride at Disneyland I used to go on as a kid. There are all of the psychedelic cultures that adopted Alice in Wonderland themes in the 60s, there’s that song “White Rabbit.” The influence of the book is everywhere. It was really weird re-reading it as an adult, because I knew all of those references, and then I noticed how mean everyone is to Alice. It’s not like other children’s books where the characters are all friendly, helping out the little girl. Everyone’s really brutal to Alice, it’s some dark stuff for a kid’s book!
Did you have any favorite characters or scenes? I was most excited to illustrate the Lobster Quadrille, the lobster dance—any excuse to draw an octopus in a bow tie and top hat does it for me. And the Mad Hatter of course, he’s such an iconic character, but kind of a jerk. I had to give him a mean look.
Where did you look for aesthetic inspiration?
I spent a long time with the original John Tenniel illustrations and was also inspired by many of the English Victorian illustrators who influenced Tenniel. Also the Disney movie that’s lodged in my head, as well as some early animators like Max Fleisher, who did Popeye and Betty Boop. I just put together a playlist for Harper Collins of what I was listening to while illustrating, bands like Wolf Parade, Arcade Fire, the Raconteurs, the Dead Weather. While I’m drawing all day, the music gets into my work. Then, at night it’s louder stuff like Spinnerette or Them Crooked Vultures, that’s when my work gets a little edgier.
What mediums did you work in? I used vintage papers, ripped up in the background, and over that watercolor, acrylic, pen and ink, and collage. The Victorian illustrators I looked at worked in pen and ink and watercolors, really traditional mediums, and I didn’t want to stray far from theat traditional feeling of the book, I wanted to capture something classic, but still keep it edgy.
How did you incorporate the social commentary that’s in your gallery work? There’s a long tradition of reading drug references into the story, so I made sure to incorporate the mushrooms and all those little bottles lying around to convey the changing perceptions. There’s also a strong feminist theme. Alice is a female child character that’s not infantilized or made to be passive or weak. That’s pretty striking considering the time period it was written in, so I tried to create an Alice who isn’t frail or helpless, she had to look empowered.
Any interest in animating or illustrating other fairy tales? Absolutely. This year I plan to do a couple little animations you could scan on your i-phone, and we’ll see where that lead. I’ll probably start with a couple of my own ideas, but I would love to do Snow White—a book or an animation. That’s a total dream project. I finally have the means to do animation, and I want to do it right—DIY, punk style. —Lucia della Paolera
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