If You Could See the Sun, 2025
Abby Carlos (b. 2007)
Colored pencil on paper
The inspiration behind this piece comes from the book “If You Could See the Sun” by Ann Liang. I initially connected with this book as a freshman and have since reread it a few times due to its lighthearted humor and romantic tropes. The girl left blank in this artwork is meant to represent Alice Sun, an overachiever who’s fears of becoming a nobody physically manifests as she suddenly becomes invisible. Overall, this piece is meant to illustrate a sense of alienation and exhaustion as a result from excessive negative self perception.
I wanted to convey the discomfort of feeling overlooked by using dark blues and purple for a majority of the background in order to contrast with Alice’s stark white appearance. The consistent solid black lining is also interrupted when it comes to Alice, emphasizing the permanence of her surroundings versus her own physical impermanence which signifies her self perceived unimportance.
In addition, the only features I made visible for this piece’s subject were her eyes which are focused towards the girl beside her, underscoring her obsession with how she measures up compared to her peers as well as her desire to be seen and remembered for her achievements. Her shifting eyes are also meant to move the viewer’s focus to the rest of the class which symbolizes again that even if she does stand out, her insecurity prevents her from being noticed for long.
Ultimately, by using dark colors against white and shifting from solid black lining to lineless, I intended to express how the fear of failure can become all consuming and result in feelings of isolation and constant insecurity.
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