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Echoes in the Eye

XUEBEI SU

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My name is Xuebei Su, but you can call me Sue. I’m a visual storyteller and illustrator from China, currently based in London.

Before starting my MA in Illustration at the University of the Arts London, I worked as a visual designer for seven years.

My creative practice draws from personal experiences, emotional memory, and historical research. I’m particularly interested in themes such as death, silence, disappearance, and the politics of storytelling. My work spans digital illustration, hand-drawn narratives, and experimental book formats.

I find inspiration in slow observation, medieval manuscripts, museum collections, and quiet moments of resilience.

To live is to explore. To explore is to play.

My name is Xuebei Su, but you can call me Sue. I’m a visual storyteller and illustrator from Chin...

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This is a visual narrative rooted in my personal experience, capturing the emotional fluctuations and observations I went through during the pandemic. That period of history now feels both distant and profound to me—it marked a turning point in my life. I don’t want to forget it in the future, so I chose to revisit it through drawing, using symbolic language to preserve those memories.

The recurring “eye” in the illustrations is a reflection of myself—quietly observing the changing world around me. Some were fearful, some greedy, some lost, and some awakened. The entire project was created in digital illustration, using dark tones and symbolic imagery to evoke a dreamlike sense of oppression and detachment. Each piece serves as a reflection of a particular psychological state, and together they form a personal memory that cannot be erased.

Final work

An eye-shaped figure faces a large smoky skull under a crescent moon, with the words “Some were fearful during the pandemic.
An eye-shaped character is placed on a button labeled “CONTINUE?” inside a red jewelry box, topped with a sparkling diamond. The text reads “While som
In a dark checkered room, a large netted double-eye appears beside the phrase “Some may lose their way
A small eye-shaped character stands at the top of a staircase leading to a dark doorway, set against a colorful background resembling a TV test screen

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Echoes in the Eye

This is a visual narrative rooted in my personal experience, capturing the emotional fluctuations and observations I went through during the pandemic. That period of history now feels both distant and profound to me—it marked a turning point in my life. I don’t want to forget ...

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