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The balcony. Illustrated book

"The balcony" is a short story by the Uruguayan writer, Felisberto Hernandez. The short story is about an agoraphobic girl who is in love with her balcony and so is unable to leave her house. One day her father goes to a concert and invites the travelling pianist to come and play for his daughter at home. Based on "The balcony", my illustrations are a story without words. Each reader is invited to bring their own knowledge and experience to decipher the complex symbolism or simply to create their own meanings in order to understand the story.

This project was an experiment in the use of a different visual language and an exploration in creating images that reflected the fantastic worlds of Felisberto Hernandez. In order to create these images I wanted to return to the craft of drawing with pencil and ink on paper. I was inspired by Old Master paintings in order to create visual puns to enlighten some of the hidden meanings of the text. The use of pattern throughout the story helps to create three-dimensionality as well as adding symbolic meaning. I used ink, watercolour, and pencil to create the drawings.