Thesis Synopsis
Little Sun tells the story of Xy and Lio, two galactic creatures in the depths of space, as a metaphor for my own experiences of chronic pain and processing childhood trauma as an adult. The story follows Xy as they cope with the sudden appearance of Lio, a part of themselves that was never expressed in childhood. Lio is a mostly non-verbal aggressive and deep feeling lion-inspired sun kid who causes pain to Xy at every interaction, and just wants to be understood.
Narrative wise, this story is heavily connected with my experiences over the past year and half learning of my chronic pain’s connection to my childhood trauma. From meeting with my therapist and acupuncturist as well as my primary care physician, I came to the conclusion that there is no “physical” answer to what was wrong with me, so I began a deep dive into my own feelings and that of trauma research and academic writings, which ultimately resulted in a metaphorical memoir detailing the beginnings of my realizations that my pain is here to protect me.
Little Sun is the start of a pilot episode for the webtoon, made with hybrid traditional/digital techniques using mediums commonly associated with childhood, such as crayon, watercolor, and colored pencil. This is a part of a process-based approach to not only telling my own personal story of healing and processing, but through the course of making I have been able to lay to rest some of the harder emotions I’ve been feeling in my life.
Artist Statement
My work calls to childhood, nostalgia, and trauma while utilizing traditional techniques in a digital medium. I create the stories that I wish I would have had as a lonely child going through too much, and make them unapologetic and loud. I’m influenced by Studio Ghibli, old internet aesthetics, and old cartoon network shows. My creative process involves taking small and simple concepts and layering complexity at each stage of making. Part of that process is experimenting with traditional and mixed media within my digital work, including the use of stop motion and traditional
frame-by-frame animation techniques. Within the comic, I also utilized a lot of new materials and methods traditionally that I had not pursued since I was a young child.
At the heart of my work is the desire to tell my own stories; I am a memoirist at heart. I am greatly influenced by storyboarding as an art form rather than the often thought of utilitarian purpose it is known for in the wider animation industry. Webtoon as a format is an extension of this thought process, and Little Sun is the result.