Sunny Wu’s illustrations exist in a universe of bright colour, grainy texture, and unapologetic femininity. Titled sunny’s world, this ongoing body of work depicts girlhood not as something fragile or ornamental, but as something self-aware, grounded, and quietly powerful.
Working primarily in digital media while drawing on the visual language of printmaking, Sunny creates images that feel youthful and sensual. Her figures are soft, often surrounded by saturated palettes and textured surfaces that echo risograph grain and screenprint tactility. Yet within this softness is an edge. Her girls frequently wear boots.
The boots are not incidental. They ground the figures physically and conceptually. They suggest readiness. They imply labour, autonomy, and movement. In Sunny’s words, her drawings are “super feminine, but there’s also a sassiness.” The figures may appear delicate at first glance, but they stand firmly in their space.
For Sunny, hope is not naïve. It is deliberate. “Hope, to me, isn’t about being delicate or untouched by reality. It’s about choosing softness without surrendering strength.” The boots become a visual shorthand for that choice. They symbolise preparedness without sacrificing femininity. “They imply readiness: for labor, for autonomy, for self expression. They make femininity feel intentional, not fragile.”
Across her A2 print editions, girlhood is portrayed as layered and self-possessed. These are not passive muses but characters inhabiting their own emotional landscapes. The combination of bright colour and textured finish reinforces the duality in her work: playful yet assured, dreamy yet grounded.
Sunny Wu is an illustrator and visual artist originally from Los Angeles. After spending four years in New York during her undergraduate studies, she recently completed a postgraduate degree in Southwest England. Alongside illustration, she experiments with ceramics, silkscreening, and rug tufting, extending her tactile interests beyond the digital surface.
Her work draws from memory, surroundings, and imagination, building a visual language where softness and strength coexist without contradiction. In Sunny’s world, femininity does not apologise for itself. It stands steady, boots on.
Website:
https://sunny-wu.com/
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/bysunnywu
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