Perched high in a roughly built tree hut, Alice assumes the role of guard dog, surveying the fading afternoon through weathered timber. Below, resting innocently among the grass and daisies, is the object of her attention: a tennis ball. Close enough to see, yet frustratingly out of reach.

Temptation captures the pause between desire and consequence. For Alice, the tennis ball is both joy and inevitable destruction - a familiar cycle of balls found, cherished, stripped of felt, broken, and mysteriously lost. Her collection becomes a kind of personal archive, continually restocked and depleted.

The painting leaves Alice’s predicament unresolved. How did she get there? Is she guarding her territory, or has curiosity placed her somewhere she cannot easily escape? The useless ladder, lengthening shadows, and warm late-afternoon light create a gentle tension between stillness and urgency.

Alice has always been devoted to the game. She is player, destroyer and performer -catching balls mid-air, inventing her own rules and enjoying every moment of an audience’s attention.

At its heart, Temptation is a portrait of longing, mischief and self-made dilemma: knowing that giving in may end badly, while resisting seems almost impossible.