One of the more unusual developments in postwar contemporary Chinese art is the so-called “big face” school, with exaggerated heads and doll-like eyes and expressions inspired by Japanese comics.
Yang Na, 25, grew up during a period when these comics, known as manga, and their animated versions, or anime, became extremely popular throughout the world. Manga featuring superheroes and young people have become the soap operas for her generation. Their characters so well known that they are common topics of converation as well as subjects that inspire artists.
Noting that “this subject matter is a favorite of computer-age Chinese artists,” the professor and art critic Wang Lin of the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute points out that “Yang Na’s works excel at gripping our attention by their bright and grandiose images…and that they offer excellent examples of the new symbolism in Chinese art, using images from contemporary cultural life to signify the psychological state of her characters and their world.”
See more of Yang Na’s artwork here