There's something special about tasting tomatoes fresh from the garden, especially when they're grown by a loved one. Huge, irregularly-shaped, aromatic edibles left me in awe as a child.
As I grew older, these tomatoes set the bar for my taste buds, making it difficult for me to enjoy the store-bought variety. While they may look perfect in their roundness and uniformity, they lack the complex flavors and textures that I crave.

In fact, I find myself projecting this perspective onto people as well. I am drawn to those who are multidimensional, like an irregularly shaped Bull's Heart tomato. At first glance, they may seem unconventional, but once you bite through the flesh, juice, texture, spatial taste, substance, and sometimes early signs of deterioration get revealed in this externally simplistic fruit.

I aimed to induce this character design with similar richness. This short looped animation is a story about a male depression, suppressed sensitivity and inability to heal due to toxic masculinity. It delves into the character's psyche, revealing the layers of pain and confusion that he is grappling with.

I see the character as a fusion of my reflections on men. I also think that I should stress the fact that in reality there is so much beauty in weakness, sensitivity and empathy. I strongly believe that accepting your own vulnerability is the most humane act you can do to yourself.

In early March, I suddenly had the urge to sculpt a male character. I started by creating a few loose sketches, with the goal of capturing central Asian features and a large frame. This was the beginning of the fun and creative process of bringing this character to life.

One of the most enjoyable parts of the character creation process for me was texturing. I particularly had a lot of fun using a software called Substance Painter, which I recently discovered. 

The camera movement was achieved using motion paths + graph editing.