YinXin He‘s illustrations for Herman Hesse’s Steppenwolf show the protaganist’s interior world. Full of metaphors and references to psychology, these contemporary gothic illustrations give a sense of magic and theatre.

This illustration by Wenjing Yang shows the inner workings of the conscious and subconscious mind, uncovering the various parts that make up a person’s personality, character and desires.

This series of illustrations by Mengjie Wang communicate the experience of appearance anxiety visually using clever compositions and bold colours to show how women can often perceive themselves so differently to reality.

This work by Nathalie Lees was created to accompany an article about self-image and social media. The piece cleverly captures the facets of an online life, and the dangers associated when it takes over.

Maarten Peeters‘ clever illustration communicates the story of an introvert who turns into her creative world in a single image.

This illustration by Cami Ruohonen was made in response to an article about learning how to think as a process of self discovery. The delicate detail of the person with a telescope in the mountain and the clouds add an ethereal feel, as though the figure is daydreaming.