As a digital artist, I explore the tension between the grotesque and the innocuous, using charm and “cute” imagery as tools of psychological manipulation to engage viewers and provoke complex emotional reactions. Influenced by Simon May’s The Power of Cute, my work investigates the act of weaponizing cuteness: how something outwardly harmless can distort perception, blur emotional boundaries, and conceal darker undertones. I explore the moment when sweetness begins to rot, when something endearing turns quietly dangerous.