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I wanted to tell a story that anyone could relate to, but also one that reflects my own personal experience. Since I was a child, I’ve always used my imagination to find comfort during tough times, creating stories that took me to distant, magical places. I wanted to explore the way books can offer a form of therapy and escape, even as adults.
The story is about how a child can find refuge in their own inner world through a book and the imagination it sparks. Alone in her room, the protagonist is forced to listen to her parents arguing, until something catches her attention: it’s a book, open on the floor, with petals and magical lights spilling out. As she gets closer, she’s transported into a world full of giant flowers, paper animals, an enchanted lake and much more… The ending invites a free interpretation, where reality and fantasy blend together.
I was excited by the idea of a story told purely through images, allowing an outside perspective to interpret it without the filter of words, perhaps drawing on their own personal experiences.
Daria Gemma lives in a small house on the edge of a forest in northern Italy, surrounded by flowers, colors and countless books. Always drawn to art in its many forms, she graduated from the European Institute of Design, where she learned digital drawing techniques and began incorporating them into her illustrations. Today, as a freelance illustrator, she creates images that blend pen portraits with digital coloring, capturing a world full of nature and the enchanting spirit of fairy tales.