He Ben Hua

Ben is of the Naxi tribe, one of several minority groups in the Yunnan province of Southwest China. Many of his paintings incorporate Naxi symbols, Dongba characters (the pictographic written language of the Naxi), and representations of daily life of the Naxi people. As he observes the changing landscape of modern China and its effects on his tribe’s culture and traditions, Ben paints the subjects which most move him—love, greed, oppression, a lost past, and hope for the future.