I'm an artist and I make cutesy photo cards of political figures from Mugshot Trump to Burger Kim Jong Un. Making these powerful men look soft and harmless helps me fear them less.

• Bella Pham makes cutesy photo cards of famous politicians.
• Her tongue-in-cheek card designs have gone viral on Instagram.
• Pham says her cards are a commentary on the idolization of politicians in American culture.

This is an as-told-to essay based on an interview with Bella Pham, an artist who makes cute photo cards of famous politicians. Videos of the photo cards have been liked hundreds of thousands of times on Instagram, and she's sold out a limited run of the photo cards. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

It's always been a goal of mine to start a small art business. From a young age, I always liked drawing things and engaging in fandoms.

My work essentially involves putting photos of powerful people on cutesy photo cards. It's a tongue-in-cheek joke, and it's also a form of commentary on the idolization of powerful people.

Styling the cards based on a politician's personality or quirks

When I'm making these cards, I usually try to draw on a politician's personality or any associations with them.

I once made a Trump photo card with brick tape around the edges as a commentary on his 2016 election promises about building a wall on the Southern border.

Others take inspiration from internet memes. I made a blue Joe Biden photo card, referencing Trump's nickname for him, "Sleepy Joe."

My Xi Jinping card design was inspired by how his appearance is often compared to Winnie the Pooh. It's also a commentary on censorship in China.

And the Kim Jong Un burger photo card is my commentary on the famine in North Korea, and how North Korean elites considered making political concessions in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions — all because they really wanted to eat fast food.

I'm considering giving more powerful men the cute photocard treatment — think tech bigwigs like Bill Gates, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg.

I can make one of these cards for less than a couple of dollars. It takes me about an hour to make each card.

I work in corporate finance, and do this on the side. To me, it's less about the money and more about the fun. The cards go for $15 each and I've sold out a limited run of them, but I do plan on restocking them in the future.

People treat politicians like celebrities, so I'm giving them the K-Pop celebrity treatment

Politicians today aren't just seen as people doing jobs.

Many politicians are pretty much celebrities, at least in modern American political culture. There are people who form personal attachments to politicians and view attacks on politicians as attacks on their friends.

My work, at its core, is a form of political satire. It doesn't trivialize the things Trump or any of these people have done. And it doesn't take away the impact that they have.

But decorating the top loaders and cards is very therapeutic to me. It's the entire process: Peeling off the stickers, one by one, and arranging them in an aesthetically pleasing way.

On a more emotional level, I think creating these cards takes away the fear people might have of politicians. These are figures that can also create so much anxiety with the policies that they pass.

Putting them in these cards takes away the hold that they have on you mentally. You are no longer worrying about what Trump might do to you because he's "sealed" in that card.

I do get a couple of comments on my work that are a little off-color. I don't pay too much attention to them, but I think these comments miss the point. This is just supposed to be a joke.

I think we, as a society, now idolize politicians to the point where people can't just put politics aside, look at something funny, and have a laugh together.