About

Hello! I’m Ali, a forager with an obsessive magpie eye for weirdo and wonderful curios from across the 2oth century. I’m based in the ancient town of Lewes, East Sussex.

Hailing from a long line of collectors, rare book dealers, tinkers and traders stretching back to the 1800’s I have always held a fascination for intriguing old items from the past.

Having previously lived in Osaka, Japan and Berlin, as well as travelling extensively across Eastern Europe, I created Kuriosas in 2010 as a portal for cherishing, celebrating and archiving the strange artifacts and odd and beautiful things I started to accrue on these journeys.

My long time love of dusty treasures has led me to work as a vintage curiosities trader at Spitalfields Antique Market, as a vintage design researcher for trend forecaster WGSN and to go on to co-found and run North London Vintage Market from 2011 to 2016 attracting 25,000 visitors at the height of the fascination with all things vintage.

I now work as an artist creating character illustrations, cut-outs and costumes, some of my work in in Outsider Art collection the Museum of Everything and I create small publications and sometimes exhibit in the UK and Europe. I also currently work as a a cultural lead, artist and researcher on a range of arts and health projects at King’s College London where I collaborate with psychologists and scientists to design and produce projects exploring the role of arts in wellbeing.

My time living in Japan inspired me to photograph all sorts of colourful individuals on the streets of Osaka and Tokyo and in the years since I have since produced street portraits of thousands of people around the UK and Europe for clients such as The Guardian, Independent, Telegraph and Vogue. I also currently work for think tanks and cultural organisations capturing the images and words of diverse communities and older people with individuality and flair to promote positive ageing and social cohesion.

Kuriosas now acts as a place for me to nurture obscure, beautiful, puzzling and singular design I continue to come across from the 20th century and indulge in my passion for book covers, illustration, surface pattern, graphics and Eastern European aesthetics. I also interview artists and intriguing individuals, profile any oddball places, museums and exhibitions I visit around Europe and in general muse over visual culture past and present.

I’m always open to all kinds of opportunities, suggestions and collaborations – please say hello! aliwinstanley@gmail.com

Ali

Follow Kuriosas:

Twitter: @ali_winstanley

Instagram: @kuriosas_aliwin

For writing, photography and artwork enquiries please contact me here: aliwinstanley@gmail.com