Sinister Worlds

www.sinisterworlds.com

Sinister Worlds studies how an uneasy mental state manifests into a vivid and surreal environment. The state of uneasiness shares similar characteristics inspired by overwhelming environments like amusement parks.

While such environments brim with wonder and thrill, they are also built on manufactured and artificial technology, and this reality starts to crumble once we start to pry its hidden mechanics. Just like feelings of uneasiness, it manipulates us into perceiving hidden threats, leading to constant cycles of anxious habits and vivid imagination.

Hence, this project explores the medium of illustration and symbolism to design a fictitious world manifested from the uneasy mind. Through a surreal illustrated interactive web platform, it aims to provoke a sense of wonder and introspection, yet also establish an unsettling atmosphere using the paradox of dark subject matter in a utopia setting. Sinister World represents the hidden alternate ego of human nature, revealing where fears and uneasiness are usually obscured, and aims to be a space of comfort for visitors to understand and relate their uneasiness, and reminds that no one is alone in an uncertain world.

Excess Baggage

Parents very often want the best for their children. However, these good intentions may not necessarily translate well into how they raise their children. What these parents deem to be well-intentioned may actually be harmful to the development of the child, be it in terms of their mental health or interactions. In more extreme cases, this behaviour may be termed as toxic parenting. In such a case, the implications on the child may even last well into adulthood. This project, titled ‘Excess Baggage’, intends to investigate why and how toxic parenting behaviours are executed, and to analyse the impact it has on children and society at large.

Having experienced toxic parenting, this project also seeks to document the author’s personal journey of confrontation, self-reflection, revision, and recovery through significant milestones and events in her life. In so doing, the author hopes to bring the viewer along in her journey as she comes to terms with the impact of toxic parenting in her life, and as she begins to heal from her experiences.