Sons of The Underworld
Felicia Krisno
See it On Campus: Level 1
Sons of The Underworld is a carousel-style accordion-folded book, depicting an original story of two siblings heavily inspired by the Chinese mythology The Black and White Impermanence (黑白无常). The story revolves around the two siblings, Jìng Héng (静恒) and Hé Píng (河平), who came into existence, trying to find a purpose to their life until they eventually stumbled into a realm in the underworld and are later trained to guide wandering spirits to their resting place.
Each page of the book is digitally illustrated and then printed onto different layers to create a sense of depth in the book, giving it a “theater” look as the viewer reads through the story. The carousel format offers the book a new level of dimension that presents itself as both an art object and something intimate to flip through on a copy. Text is interwoven through the pages and placed strategically together with the flow of the image along the page to keep the immersion of the illustrations without breaking the viewers out of the world that the book presents.
The artist created this work out of her love for Chinese mythology and fiction. Being a sixth-generation Chinese born and raised in Indonesia; Felicia has held a fascination with the other part of her culture that seemed far away from her. In recent years, she has begun to discover the world of Xianxia (仙侠) – a genre of Chinese fantasy heavily inspired by Chinese mythologies and the supernatural beings in it. The aim of a lot of Xianxia, whether they come in the form of dramas or novels, is to connect the modern population with old traditions and historical stories that may seem intimidating to approach, inviting curiosity and a willingness to learn more about the long history of Chinese culture. Through this project, Felicia hopes to reconnect with her Chinese ancestors a bit more, and perhaps, invite other people to learn the history behind the two deities responsible for the dead spirits in Chinese mythology.
Why a carousel book?
In the very beginning stages of this project, I knew that I wanted to make a project that elevates my illustration even more than just an image on a page. I figured, what better way to do it than to add dimension manually to the illustration through the layering of the images? This way, the story also feels theatrical and performative.
TRANSCRIPT
“Do you think we’re there yet?”
“We don’t even know where we’re going!It’s best if we just keep walking.”
The rustling of leaves surrounded them as they walked through the unfamiliar realm, two souls wandering, trying to find something they don’t know of yet. What they did know, was the insistent tugging feeling in their chests. So they kept going, for a long looooong time.
“Xiongzhang let’s
go there!”
“Do you think they’ll
accept us?”
“Well- it’s not like we’ll know
if we don’t try? Come on, where else are we supposed to go?”
They thought– perhaps if they proved themselves to be worthy, the residents there might take a liking to them and accept them as their people. After all, who would want two random wandering souls who came out of nowhere?
It all began with simple chores, following villagers around and seeing if they could help with anything. They worked, and worked, and wondered if those other lost souls who just arrived needed help not getting lost.
Until a chance encounter with the Lord of the Underworld found them, some might say this was planned by fate but who’s really there to tell?
Fueled with determination, the two wandering brothers took it up as a challenge to prove themselves to be worthy apprentices of the Lord. They’ve seen those spirits being ferried to the underworld, they know they can do it too!
And would you look at that, who would have thought the cold Lord of the underworld would have a soft heart? He took them in like his own sons!
“Do you have names?”
“No, Lord. We do not know what it is that you speak of.”
The Lord chuckled. “Alright, then,” he said, ruffling both of their heads.
“From today onwards, you shall be known as Hé Píng and Jìng Héng. Dark and Bright Reigns of Death, Black and White Impermanence, and… my sons.”
It was a picture of a perfect family.
One lesson after another, one blessing after another, the two wandering souls were officially on their way to becoming the best deities at guiding mortal souls to the afterlife, they swear it. They want to make Lord Father proud after all!
And deep down they know, they will have each other’s backs, even if one sneaks out to get snacks from the kitchen during lessons.
The entire realm will then know them as Hēi Bái Wú Cháng (黑白无常), The Black and White Impermanence—the two brothers who guide the souls of the living to where they sit in the underworld.
This project took a lot of back and forth in the planning stage, from not knowing what format it should take and to what information should I focus on for the story.
I realized later, after reading through the original story for these two (which I wrote back in Fall 2024, see further down the page), that I wish to explore the bond between the two brothers even more. How did they end up in the underworld? What were their personalities like when they were young? Questions like these drove me down to where the project is at right now.
I eventually settled on a carousel book format and sketched out what each page would look like. This is where a lot of the trial and error happens as I tend to not change the sketch as much when I start illustrating.
I also created a mockup for the carousel form of the book to figure out the measurements of each layer and how each layer will come together. This then became my base measurements on my illustrations, to ensure that each layer of the illustrations can fit together nicely.
As mentioned previously, the main story of these characters was created back in the Fall Semester of 2024, with the addition of another character, Líng Yì (灵义). He made an appearance in the first book featuring the story, which was a copper etching print-based accordion book with handwritten text featured alongside the character profiles.
CHARACTER DESIGN SKETCHES (2024)
VOLUME 1: The Impermanence of The Underworld and Above (2024)
This document contains all the information regarding how the story of “The Impermanence of The Underworld and Above” and “Sons of The Underworld” came to be. With an explanation of each character’s traits, and their relation to one another.
“Sons of The Underworld” is heavily referencing Snippet 5 (page 14). While “The Impermanence of The Underworld and Above” references a combination of Story snippets and the summary, with a main focus of introducing the characters and their roles.
Take a look to read if you’re interested to know more!
PRINTMAKING
Throughout my time at Emily Carr, I have discovered a love for printmaking. I have tried all types except letterpress (which I hope to learn one day), and I’d say my favorite types are relief (linocut), intaglio (copper etching), and screenprinting. I enjoy the tactility that printmaking gives to my illustrations, merging such old techniques with contemporary illustration styles.
BOOKMAKING & ZINES
On top of printmaking, I’ve also been developing my skills in bookmaking. Taking narrative books into another level of interaction with the readers excites me and I find it best to do that through artist books. Another outlet for this that I like to create that’s more accessible than bookmaking is making zines. I have recently grown a liking towards risograph printing and the vibrant colors that they offer, and I extended my practice there as well.
