For this project, I wanted to develop these two characters because as I explained in my previous post, this was an unfinished project, in the sense that it was intended to be an interactive experience with different levels. 

In each level the base character, Alice, adopts different elements in her clothing, which in itself generates a new character. At the end of the maze in the first part, the question remained: are Alice and White Rabbit the same person, or are they two different characters?
And this is the key point that prompted me to continue with this story. Personally, I find it more appealing to develop two characters with more background and personality than several characters that don't make any sense. For this particular project, we were asked to deal with the theme of the alter ego or doppelgänger, which is a very fascinating subject for me and fitted in perfectly with what I had been developing personally.

When I think of characters with a doppelgänger personality, the first reference that comes to my mind is this one: 

I remember having seen it as a child, later this other reference:

This time a cinema film in which VFX made it possible to see the transformation between the two characters. 

But I hadn't had the chance to read the original story for myself. And I have to say that the physical image of Mr. Hyde presented to us does not match the one originally presented in Robert Louis Stevenson's novel. 

Which reading I highly recommend, as it is a delight the way the author portrays the characters and the story. I was also very struck by the fact that we can see the difference between the two characters is not only in the physical aspect but in the mentality and behaviour as well.

In my case, we could say that, physically, both characters are similar. It tells us enough about them. But perhaps what defines them most is their faces. 

In both cases, we can't see their facial expressions, and this has a very personal reason and is related to the theme I'm talking about with each of the characters.

For me, these two characters are a duality. One and the same being, who in turn are different beings who cannot coexist at the same time. Which is, basically, the idea behind the figure of the doppelgänger. 

At the end of the labyrinth in the previous level, Alice does not die, she just disappears. Part of her seems to still be there; however, she is different. 

The labyrinth and each of its components could be a metaphor for life, a place where you enter knowing where the end is, but during which you are not quite sure where you are and where you are going. 

And what has space got to do with the physical characteristics of it, very simply. In fact, the first question we could ask ourselves is, if she has eyes, or if she can actually see. 

Can we see reality as it is, or are our senses limited? I wanted to represent this very abstract subject in a way that was more question than answer, and that's how I came up with the solution. 

She sees, but without eyes. What she sees or experiences is reality or perhaps just a projection of it, as Plato said. Her eyes are eyes and at the same time they are not. They are covered, blindfolded. 

Something similar happens with the mouth. How can you speak or communicate when you don't have a proper way of understanding or interpreting either? Maybe she doesn't want to just talk, maybe she doesn't need to, or maybe she is not allowed to. 

At first glance the appearance of her face is striking and frightening, but at the same time it is simple, almost naïve in its simplicity. I think I managed to represent all those concerns and ideas I started from with simple and catchy elements (Prägnanz, Gestalt psychology).

As for White Rabbit, you can clearly see the not accidental cinematographic reference to the film Donnie Darko. A science fiction classic from the early 2000s that also deals with themes such as reality, dreams, madness and death. 

In this new revision of the story and the characters, I decided to change the hair colour from blue to pink to further establish the difference between the two. And in the same way that the environment and its meaning marked Alice's physical characteristics, in the case of White Rabbit something similar happens. 

Now we talk about sleep, about our self while we sleep. It is so to speak a very personal rehearsal of events related to the act of sleeping that I have experienced, such as insomnia, sleep paralysis, or lucid dreaming. 

During sleep, we acquire a different consciousness of ourselves, and that is what the mask represents. It is as if this mirror of reality makes Alice herself, but in a different way, which generates a new character, White Rabbit. 

The mask of the rabbit with the deformed features is frightening and disconcerting in the same way that dreams can be. Another related detail is that with the mask, neither we nor she can see her face. Therefore, there is no self-consciousness. Everything that surrounds us, what we understand as reality, is reality in terms of ourselves and what we can interpret of it (an idea proposed by Kant). 

Moreover, the image we have of ourselves and our individuality depends to a large extent on the interpretation of us by those around us. But if she is not conscious of herself, and we cannot see her, then there is no room for self-judgement and interpretation. 

Everything that happens in that environment may or may not be real, just as we do not know to what extent White Rabbit is Alice. 

While we sleep are we ourselves or are we else?