The first time I heard Baek Hee-na’s stories was in an interview on a tv show. Originally, she majored in education technology and studied character animation. After few years of working as an animator, she became an author of picture book for children.

In that interview, there was a moment in which Hee-na shows how she made her picture book, which fascinated me. She creates characters and backgrounds such as buildings, cities and even lighting as a real model, and finally completes the picture book by taking photographs of them. It is very unique and interesting to see how she approaches the book making through her experience of animation production. Her imaginary world is not only produced on paper but exists also in real world.

Baek Hee-na is an artist who develops the field of picture books, showing uncompromising and bold techniques and artistic solutions by interestingly combining crafts made by hand and animation elements.

Announcement of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2020

※ A film about making the books

※ A documentary