Life Lived With Play

Life Lived With Play was Alice Irwin's solo exhibition at Yorkshire Sculpture Park's Bothy Gallery, presented shortly after graduating from the Royal College of Art in 2018. The exhibition brought together sculpture and print to explore the relationship between childhood, memory and play, introducing a cast of bold, graphic characters that would become central to her practice.

Transforming part of the gallery into a working studio, visitors were invited to observe the creative process and engage directly with the development of the work. Through playful forms, vivid colour and recurring motifs, the exhibition explored the tension between nostalgia and the more complex realities of childhood, marking an important early milestone in Irwin's career and the beginning of her ongoing relationship with Yorkshire Sculpture Park.