I enjoy elements of satire and dark humor in narrations that talk about our life in a strange way. Storytelling with a whimsical touch is a big part of my work. I love creating a virtual playground through my illustration practice to reflect on sensitive topics that concern this generation.
My main project this year is developed surrounding a graphic novel based on an imaginary post-war dystopian world in the future that reflects some hypocritical elements of our reality. The story is about a world where a mushroom girl heads to a dazzling city to chase her singing dreams. But she finds the reality a lot different from her expectations when she's jailed for singing in public! What’s going to happen next? We will follow her on a wild ride through hope and harsh reality.
The entire story reflects a lot on my personal experience as well as the communal voices of a young member of this generation. This year, my practice mainly focused on developing and researching while making the first chapter. This chapter is mainly focused on the theme of coming of age and leaving home, exploring the anxiety of independence and responsibilities in a chaotic, bizarre setting. Just like real life.
Details of the comic will be avaliable on my personal website later on, I'm aiming to finish the whole story in future. If you'r interested in the comic, please get in contact with me.
From studying the movie 'Metropolis', I realized that well-arranged geometric shapes are a repeated element in the design of the environment in the movie Metropolis. These arrangements provide a sense of order and control, while the geometric shapes give the audience a sense of futurism. I’m hugely inspired by the use of geometric shapes in the design. Therefore, I came up with the concept of using cut paper shapes from a Lidl magazine to form shapes and parts of the city. However, I didn’t want it to be as orderly as it is in the Metropolis movie. In the world I design, people build their legacy on the ruins of the civilization before them, almost like a junk mountain. To imitate that feeling, I kept many cutouts of the original merchandise in the sale magazine. I crafted diverse arrangements with these objects to enhance the sense of constructing a sanctuary from the remnants of destruction, aiming to emphasize segregation and differences in the overall design. The design of the packaging will be blurred out by added line works and drawings later.
After closely studying mushrooms, I’ve been contemplating how to incorporate this fungal element into my character. I’ve created various figures based on different mushrooms I’ve previously drawn, each imbued with a distinct vibe that I appreciate. However, for my graphic novel, I require a heroine who is primarily innocent and excited about a world she hasn’t explored much. The designs above have given me a general sense of how I imagined fungus people as a life form and also indicated my preference for the design inspired by chanterelles. As a result, I’ve focused on developing this specific type of mushroom, designing hairstyles and outfits for my main character.
To craft a race that venerates the power of nature, my mind immediately gravitated towards nature’s capacity to generate life. Drawing from pagan religious references often depicted in horror films, I delved into movies like Midsommar and The Wicker Man, which explore themes of cultism and fertility rites, often symbolized by recurring shapes such as triangles.
Inspired by these films, I envisioned a ritual for the mushroom people. Unlike celebrations of reproduction, their ritual would commemorate the rebirth of a human as a mushroom person. As part of this concept, I also conceived a cradle to serve as the vessel for this transformative ceremony. Here, I’ve crafted a social space for the ritual to unfold. When selecting colors, I aimed to evoke a sense of warmth reminiscent of returning to the womb of a maternal figure. However, while creating a welcoming ambiance, I also sought to instill a hint of unease or fear.
