Word Count: 193 | Reading Time: 1 min

Stars Between Teeth

My inspiration came from the anthropomorphisation of concepts: just like Terry Pratchett makes Death into a character with history and personality, I wanted to tinker with how a person could toe the line between being human and a concept — or, in this case, a place. My figure is the city; its colours, its shapes, are mirrored in her. But cities, especially ones in cyberpunk universes, have been atomised and consumed so often for the interests of those most powerful. 

Is the city then those with power? Or everyone else? How can a place be made hostile to itself? Those questions are what I kept in mind while illustrating the dynamic between X the figure and X the city — she leaves through a portal, but in her final moments is still looking back, self-possessed yet still burdened. There is a tension still existing between her and the city that is fraught but not yet broken. The same starry light that spills over the city every morning — equal for everyone — is the ember at the end of the cigarette she stubbornly keeps between her teeth. This city is still hers — still her.