‘Illustrations of a Neighbourhood’ is a collection of house illustrations, created based on the homes of myself, friends and family, and strangers across the world, which aims to evoke senses of sonder and community among the audience.

Sonder is the profound realisation that everyone leads a complex life full of thoughts, emotions, and experiences, such as yourself. This piece presents a collection of human experiences and personal histories. The consistent absence of a background isolates each building, emphasizing its architecture and character, and reinforces the personal narratives within each house. The repetition of a similar object (houses) highlights the subtle distinctions in culture, class, and wealth. With 90 individual illustrations, this piece requires the viewer to spend time engaging with the piece to view each painting properly. The number of illustrations invites contemplation on the multitude of lives being led across different spaces.

The paintings gain strength when viewed together, emphasizing community and human interconnection despite differences. The presentation of the paintings is categorized based on proximity to my personal experience, with more familiar homes being central, moving outwards towards second-degree connections, followed by lives of which I have no personal relationship. This organisation reflects themes of community structures and personal connections, representing relationships between individuals through architectural spaces.