SHIYAN CHEN
Paradise by Toni Morrison - Illustration
January 2026
Watercolor and colored pencil on paper
In the novel “Paradise”, Morrison weaves issues of history, gender, race and religion and challenges the possibilities of having a peaceful place on Earth for the people who long for it. The five Convent women are highlighted as powerful and healing forces to combat the tragedy and cruelty within their stories. Abstracted images depict fleeting emotions that reflect the inner worlds of the characters.
Front Cover
Mavis
“With her back exposed to that much danger, she felt feverish - sweaty and cold together."
"She did not look toward the kitchen and never saw it again."
Grace (Gigi)
“And that near this lake two trees grew in each other’s arms. And if you squeezed in between them in just the right way, well, you would feel an ecstasy no human could invent or duplicate.”​
"The desert couple was big, Mikey said. From any angle you looked, he said, they took up the sky, moving, moving. Liar, thought Gigi; not this sky. This here sky was bigger than everything, including a woman with her breasts on a tray."
Seneca
“The front door was never locked and she could leave anytime she wanted to. She didn't have to stay there, moving from peacock feathers to abject humiliation; from coddling to playful abuse; from caviar tartlets to filth. But the pain framed the pleasure, gave it edge. The humiliation made surrender deep, tender. Long-lasting."
Pallas
“The whole house felt permeated with a blessed malelessness, like a protected domain, free of hunters but exciting too."
Consolata
“Faith is all I need."
Loud Dreaming
“That is how the loud dreaming began. How the stories rose in that place. Half-tales and the never-dreamed escaped from their lips to soar high above guttering candles, shifting dust from crates and bottles."