“No Soup” is a four-fold, double-sided accordion book with three-layered “flower-fold” pages that can be folded out to reveal a fourth, inner layer. The story centres around a conversation that the unnamed main character (pictured) is having via text message, which slowly devolves into an absurd argument about soup and dirty dishes.

The first layer of the “flower-fold” pages repeat the same photograph of the main character, indicating the way most people’s external expressions often do not change no matter the content of their text messages. The second layer then reveals the conversation that is being had, and the third layer foregrounds the central focus of that particular snippet of conversation. The final layer is then accessible by expanding the “flower-fold” pages to their full size, revealing an exaggerated, stylised illustration of the main character’s suppressed emotions and inner thoughts.

This project was meant to convert the different layers of our internal/external thoughts and consciousness into a layered, tactile experience that readers engage with by peeling back, while also weaving a humorous story that allowed me to blend my illustration and photography practices.