'Alice' in her new Andalusian Wonderland

The artist behind a gargantuan sculpture of Alice - the main character from Lewis Carroll's classic Alice in Wonderland - has decided to donate the work to the Andalusian Contemporary Art Center (CAAC).

Cristina Lucas's Alice, which she has handed over with artist and gallery owner Juana de Aizperu, was unveiled at the center last month. With her face peeking out of a small window and her huge arm reaching out through a larger open space in a wall of La Cartuja monastery, which houses the museum, Alice looks as though she is trying to break free of the building in which she is contained.

Lucas created the piece in 2009 to critique the silent oppression suffered by many women. The work was an attempt to bring art into public spaces as part of Córdoba's failed candidacy to be European Capital of Culture in 2016.

The piece aims to flood the space and share with visitors the physical manifestation of the size metaphor that Carroll created in his classic tale. At the same time, Lucas hopes the sculpture's new home will serve as an exercise in perspective, prompting the viewer to consider the anti-monumental nature of the sculpture in relation to the space housing it.

The piece joins a collection Aizperu donated to the CAAC last year that includes work by artists including Juan Suárez, Núria Carrasco, Gerardo Delgado, Rogelio López Cuenca, José Ramón Sierra, Claudio Díaz, Equipo Múltiple, Quico Rivas, Juan Manuel Bonet, Federico Guzmán, Pedro G. Romero and Salomé del Campo.

Lucas, a distinguished Andalusian artist, was not present when the collection was unveiled at the CAAC. Her work, known for breaking rules, has been exhibited in museums around the world, including the Museo Carrillo Gil in Mexico, the Sala Santa Lucía in Seville, the Dos de Mayo Art Center and the Thyssen in Madrid, the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam in the Netherlands, the Stenersen Museum in Oslo, the Artium in Vitoria-Gasteiz and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon.