Spotlight
Spotlight Alice Motte Muñoz
Championed by Georgina Casparis
Above Untitled, Photography on paper, square shaped, various dimensions
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Above Artist portrait with three of her sold works, permanent exhibition of Collection of 80 Strand, London
Interview
Alice Motte Muñoz
Interview
Alice Motte Muñoz
After more than thirteen years working in the corporate world, including auction houses, Alice Motte Muñoz decided to quit and devote herself to her drawing practice. In 2019, she was awarded First Prize of the Trinity Buoy Wharf Award, selected by Chantal Joffe, Andrew Nairne and Professor Dorothy Price. The award, a prize of £8000, gave Muñoz the courage to apply to the Royal College of Art, where she gained her master’s in 2020. Muñoz’s winning portrait Reverie, is now part of the permanent exhibition at the Drawing Projects UK Museum in Wiltshire.
Her practice has gone from strength to strength ever since, with a string of awards, prizes and residencies to her name. In 2026 she will be the NPO Artist Residency in Kyoto, Japan, an opportunity for the French Filipina artist to create and exhibit new works in a new context.
Muñoz’s champion for The Wick is Georgina Casparis, Head and Curator of Art Vontobel, Bank Vontobel’s art collection. She said: “Alice’s practice offers a compelling example of how a richly multicultural life can shape a luminous and nuanced artistic voice. Half-Filipina, half-French, connected to Iran through her family and shaped by years in London, Paris, Manila, and Hong Kong, she brings together these diverse lineages not as contrasts but as harmonies.”
Casparis adds that “In a moment when cultural division dominates global discourse, her work offers a counter-narrative—one in which multiple identities can coexist, merge, and enrich one another. Moving fluidly between photography, ink, watercolour, origami, and printmaking, Alice embraces transformation as both subject and method. The gentleness that permeates her gestures—whether a single brushstroke or a folded sheet of paper—carries its own quiet insistence, reminding us that resilience often appears in delicate forms. Her recurring “phoenix of grace” embodies this duality: vulnerability rising into renewal. In its softness, openness, and multicultural generosity, her work feels profoundly necessary today.”
Muñoz tells the Wick she is inspired by “grace and strength”, looking not only to artists such as Louise Bourgeois, Fabienne Verdier, Mark Rothko and Tadao Ando but to friends and relatives. In addition to the mix of cultural references and influences present in her works, dance, Persian poetry, music and Japanese concepts of wabi sabi, ikigai and Zen Buddhism also find their way into her works.
Muñoz’s champion for The Wick is Georgina Casparis, Head and Curator of Art Vontobel, Bank Vontobel’s art collection. She said: “Alice’s practice offers a compelling example of how a richly multicultural life can shape a luminous and nuanced artistic voice. Half-Filipina, half-French, connected to Iran through her family and shaped by years in London, Paris, Manila, and Hong Kong, she brings together these diverse lineages not as contrasts but as harmonies.”
Casparis adds that “In a moment when cultural division dominates global discourse, her work offers a counter-narrative—one in which multiple identities can coexist, merge, and enrich one another. Moving fluidly between photography, ink, watercolour, origami, and printmaking, Alice embraces transformation as both subject and method. The gentleness that permeates her gestures—whether a single brushstroke or a folded sheet of paper—carries its own quiet insistence, reminding us that resilience often appears in delicate forms. Her recurring “phoenix of grace” embodies this duality: vulnerability rising into renewal. In its softness, openness, and multicultural generosity, her work feels profoundly necessary today.”
Muñoz tells the Wick she is inspired by “grace and strength”, looking not only to artists such as Louise Bourgeois, Fabienne Verdier, Mark Rothko and Tadao Ando but to friends and relatives. In addition to the mix of cultural references and influences present in her works, dance, Persian poetry, music and Japanese concepts of wabi sabi, ikigai and Zen Buddhism also find their way into her works.
About the champion
Georgina Casparis is Head & Curator of Art Vontobel, where she is responsible for the strategic development of Bank Vontobel’s Art Collection, the implementation of its biennial art award for emerging artists, and the integration of art within the firm’s broader culture and activities. She brings a diverse background across both the commercial and non-profit art sectors, having worked for international galleries, co-curated the Manifesta Biennale in Zurich, and worked freelance with both private and corporate clients.With over 15 years of experience, Georgina has developed deep expertise in building collections, championing emerging artists, and designing cultural strategies for brands and private collectors alike. Central to her practice is her close, ongoing engagement with the artists she supports. Alongside curating the bank’s collection, she continues
“In its softness, openness, and multicultural generosity, her work feels profoundly necessary today.”
Above Ensō Filipiniana, Japanese ink on paper, 27 x 40 cm
Above Maternal Sleep, Photography on Paper, various dimensions
Above Reflexions and Reflections, Photography on paper, square shaped, various dimensions (1 print in 80 Strand Collection, London)
Above Flaming Dancer, acrylic paint, knifed on paper, 10.5 x 13.5 cm
Above Untitled, Photography on paper, square shaped, various dimensions
Above Reverie, Graphite and pencil on paper, 59.4 x 81.4 cm (Winner, First Prize, Trinity Buoy Wharf Award, London
Above Ensō Filipiniana, Japanese ink on paper, 27 x 40 cm
Above Maternal Sleep, Photography on Paper, various dimensions
Above Reflexions and Reflections, Photography on paper, square shaped, various dimensions (1 print in 80 Strand Collection, London)
Above Flaming Dancer, acrylic paint, knifed on paper, 10.5 x 13.5 cm
Above Untitled, Photography on paper, square shaped, various dimensions
Above Reverie, Graphite and pencil on paper, 59.4 x 81.4 cm (Winner, First Prize, Trinity Buoy Wharf Award, London
