Indonesian visual designer and illustrator Aurelia Karina develops a personal series of digital illustrations built on disproportionate human forms and bold contrasting colour, inspired by plus-size yoga culture and a desire to express what words cannot always reach.
In 2018, Aurelia Karina’s mother started sharing videos of plus-size women doing yoga. The shapes, the movement, the visual departure from what illustration typically presented as a human body, stayed with her. She began drawing yoga poses with Copic markers and posting them to Instagram. From there, the characters developed lives of their own, moving from yoga poses into nature, daily life and the textures of human personality.
The Fatty Human Series is a personal project built on intentional divergence.
“I wanted to create something different and unique that does not adhere to social standards,” Karina says. “I chose a vibrant, contrasting colour palette and disproportionate human form to make my work stand out and to represent the other side of me that isn’t always visible.”
The practice started traditionally, with drawing pens, markers and watercolours, before moving to digital illustration on an iPad, a shift that expanded both the range and the precision of what the characters could become.
The emotional dimension of the work is as deliberate as the visual. Karina is, by her own description, introverted and not always comfortable translating inner experience into words. “Vibrant colours and playful forms are my language,” she says. “It’s how I express what I can’t always say out loud.” The boldness of the palette and the exuberance of the forms carry a directness that is, paradoxically, a form of quiet self-disclosure.
The series has grown from simple yoga poses into a wider world of scenes and characters, each one shaped by curiosity and a willingness to let the work unfold. Karina has received recognition through exhibitions and publications including Unknown Asia, HUG and Suboart Magazine.
Aurelia Karina is an Indonesian-based visual designer and illustrator working in digital illustration after years of traditional practice. She studied visual communication and transitioned from full-time work to freelance practice.
Website: hug.art/artists/karinaurelia Instagram: @a.karinaillustration
Fatty Human Series. Digital illustration, Procreate on iPad.
