Greek visual artist and acclaimed book illustrator Vasilis Papatsarouchas is perhaps one of Alice in Wonderland’s most ardent enthusiasts, having repeatedly explored Lewis Carroll’s famous text over the years. His deep connection with the story dates back to his childhood, and today he proudly owns more than 60 different editions of the book, passionately collected from around the world. In his latest illustration project, Papatsarouchas once again invites us into Alice’s magical world — a realm of mystery, whimsy, symbolism, and delightful absurdity that unfolds before our eyes.

Vasilis Papatsarouchas has earned a reputation as a prolific and highly praised book illustrator. Over the past fifteen years, more than fifty books featuring his illustrations have been published in Greece and abroad, including two collector’s editions and four publications based on his own texts. His talent has garnered numerous accolades, including the National Illustration Award in 2004 for his adaptation of the classic Little Red Riding Hood. In 2008, he was also nominated for the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award, which recognizes authors and illustrators whose body of work has made a lasting contribution to children’s literature.

However, Papatsarouchas felt his journey with Alice remained unfinished. This creative itch led him to revisit the story, producing a series of captivating illustrations to accompany a new adaptation of the book, published in late 2012 by Polaris. Following the book’s success, the illustrations were presented in the exhibition “Down the Rabbit Hole – A Journey with Alice in Wonderland” at the Stormy Gallery in Athens, Greece — allowing viewers to experience the enchanting imagery beyond the pages of the book.

The classic, well-known story of Alice in Wonderland is now visually reimagined through Vasilis Papatsarouchas’ eyes, with a more adult-oriented approach that diverges from traditional children’s book illustrations. This new adaptation features a series of captivating, hand-drawn, mixed-media illustrations, enhanced by a mature color palette that intelligently juxtaposes ghostly outlines and crisp silhouettes with vibrant blocks of color. Papatsarouchas skillfully simplifies the drawings, retaining only the most essential narrative elements to shape the story’s core.

In this stripped-down interpretation, the focus is placed firmly on the characters, their actions, and their emotional impact on the reader. Backgrounds and environmental details are kept to a bare minimum, allowing the whimsical and the absurd to merge in an elegant game of visual poetry. Simple in their form yet deeply expressive, these illustrations become narrative moments where imagination and reality blur.

Full of allegory and symbolism, Papatsarouchas’ illustrations reflect the multi-layered nature of Carroll’s original text. “As a person, I’m instinctively inclined to search for multiple meanings and interpretations in whatever I do. I like to look for and discover hidden things… The same applies to my work,” he explains. By crafting images that tease and challenge the imagination, he encourages readers to reconsider how they see and interpret familiar forms. This, after all, is precisely the effect that Carroll’s tale has on its readers — perhaps explaining Papatsarouchas’ deep, lifelong fascination with the story.