World of Awe originated in a series of acrylic paintings in 1994 after Yale Kanarek's involvement with a group self-titled The Drawing Center. Her early experience with advanced art began with her exposure to gouache works that showcased domestic scenes of female and male bodies. Kanarek later delved into portraiture in her early twenties, stating that painting has become a portal into another world and a new life for the artist (Gravity is Optional). The love letters the lone traveler writes to their ambiguous love interest are plastered with lurid language that describes the traveler's yearning and ultimate loneliness. Sometimes poetic, other times detailing the traveler's journey, the narrator cannot send the letters to their intended receiver. The traveler's destination is also never told. Further, the love letters serve as a narrative structure in illustrating the internal monologue of the traveler while reinforcing the desolate world created in the piece.