Wang Xiaodi

Born 1984 in Chongqing, Wang Xiaodi studied in the Oil Painting department of the Sichuan Fine Art Institute. She is a young female artist dealing with the status of women in present day China. She unites two traditional Chinese male images - the bald Buddhist monk and the high-browed Wise Man’ (one of the 8 immortals in Chinese mythology), and transforms them into a feminine young woman. Her modern day Buddhist disciples are an arhats based on stylish female characters. With strong religious and pop-cultural overtones, her paintings act not as guidelines for living in contemporary society but rather contemplation on state of being in the modern world.