THE DAUGHTER WHO GAVE OUT OF LOVE
Written and Illustrated by
MICHELLE NING LO
About the Book
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The Daughter Who Gave Out of Love is an original tale of the dawn of our world. It tells of how a deity creates the world out of love for her father, and how she betrays her father out of love for her creations. The story combines elements of creation myths from various cultures around the globe, but grows beyond its predecessors and becomes a tale of family, of romance, and of hope.
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This project began as an idea for an animated short film. The majority of animations nowadays are three-dimensional, with either ultra-realistic details or rounded, cutesy characters. I wanted to move away from that and instead develop an illustration style that is more imaginative than realistic, more elegant than cute.
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I wanted to create a whole new world, and coincidentally, a creation myth checked all the boxes. Creation myths reinterpret familiar objects around us and give everything its own persona. The stories are stylish, but can still be straightforward for children’s interest.
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Thus began my research. I read the creation myths of many different cultures, including the Korean, Iroquois, Chinese, Mossi, Christian, and Australian Aborigines. In my research, I discovered several common elements used in these myths, such as the birth of the world from chaos, the special powers of water, and the consequences of sin. Therefore, to keep the style of myths, I adopted these common elements, as well as the myths’ descriptive language, and rearranged them into a unique story. Myth-savvy readers will find joy in pointing out the familiarity in the novelty of the narrative.
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My illustrations also take on details of ancient art: silhouettes that evoke objects in cave drawings, cut-out patterns resembling paper crafts, texture with the appearance of wooden paintings. Though the illustrations are static, they have great potential to be animated. I’ve created a rough story board for the animation, which would be the next step for this project.
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I strongly believe that The Daughter Who Gave Out of Love will captivate its readers with its symbolic narrative and charming illustrations. It will also teach its readers about familial love, environmentalism, and peace.
About the Author
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Michelle Ning Lo is a theatre designer and freelance film and graphic artist. Born in Hsinchu, Taiwan, she and her family immigrated to Burnaby, BC in 1995, and were naturalised as Canadian citizens when she was nine years old. Since then, she has moved back and forth between Hsinchu and British Columbia.
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As an immigrant who grew up in both Canada and Taiwan, Michelle is always interested in learning about other cultures. In university, she joined a club for international students and made friends with people from various Asian and European countries. After graduation, she taught English in Taiwan for several years, meeting students from Singapore, China, and Japan. In 2015, she spent a year in Tokyo studying Japanese, and met other language students from Germany, Switzerland, England, and France. Returning to BC for graduate school, she became close friends with classmates from Brazil and Iran. When speaking to all these friends, Michelle never forgets to share cultural insights.
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What fascinates her most about cultures is their different beliefs, and how similar they can be. Though not religious herself, she loves stories told in religions and myths. As a child, she studied accounts recorded in the Bible. In university, she took a course on Greek Mythology, and for another course, she compared the religions/myths of five ancient cultures—Arnhem Land, Egypt, Olmec, China, and Greece—in order to point out their similarities.
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Though interested in existing myths, Michelle is never content with the pure reproduction of these stories. She instead uses these stories as inspiration and creates her own narratives. Even then, she is only satisfied after she completes visual portrayals of her stories. Thus, she hopes to pursue a career in illustrated storybooks and film, where both of her desires can be fulfilled.
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Story-telling, both through words and through visual representation, is her ultimate passion. She wishes to continue creating work to share with others, thereby freeing the various universes that exist in her head.
Visit Michelle’s website for examples of her work.
