If you’ve ever attended more than one Pecha Kucha event, you’ve likely heard a presenter or two talk about why they do what they do as a compulsion, or the only thing that truly makes them happy. One of the most admirable and consistent qualities of PKN presenters in my opinion is that they all seem to have taken Joseph Campbell‘s advice to “follow your bliss” to heart. This is in part, where I developed the concept for this poster series.

The first of four posters in the series for Pecha Kucha Winnipeg, 2012 features an illustration of a cadaver splayed open, showing brightly coloured internals with a rainbow radiating from the chest cavity. The idea was to express literally what bliss might look like if you where to dissect a blissfully happy person.

I drew some inspiration from medical drawings of the 1800s but wanted to give the illustration more texture and whimsy so as not to be too macabre. I decided to put each illustration layer through a die-cutting plotter on multicolored sheets of paper, then reassembled the pieces, intertwining the veins, muscle and arteries to create the final piece.

The sculpture was then photographed and brought into Photoshop for post-production and color correction to add vibrancy and lighting dynamics.

The series will showcase multiple body parts, representing the heart, head, hands and eyes. The tools that all creative people – regardless of their profession– use to produce the things they love.

Original photo of paper sculpture.

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