Postcards to the World

From the nostalgic city of Hangzhou, Rain talks about her films and comics, her new swimsuit, and her questions to the world.

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By Althea Chia

Jul 30, 2005 | One thing that surprises Rain is the large proportion of males in her fan base. “Some gays also like my work,” says Rain. “I guess the sexuality of my comics is more ambiguous. Only being human is real, and that has nothing to do with one’s sex.”

A deliberate poetry of cool hues and languid moments, her style does look feminine. “I think this style is in my blood... The atmosphere and the aesthetics. I’d like to create something special yet honest,” says Rain. Boys and girls lay in their full-lipped fatalism as watercolours wash over the lines and seep into the paper. But what lie beneath are the universal themes of memories and emotions, and the odd question we asked when we were four.

Rain’s latest short comic, “Pieces of You”, is one such characteristic work in its portrayal of three days in the life of a young woman. Cherry’s clockwork days are steeped in a suffocating job and the quiet despair of an unemployed boyfriend. One evening on her way home, she witnesses an accident. The next morning Cherry gets ready for work as usual, for the numbing routines of the city. She’s as weary as ever, but there’s grit in her stare.

Besides writing comics, Rain is also completing her Master’s in Film and Animation at the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou. Her first art book, Ethereal Wings, was published to acclaim in 2004. She is currently preparing a second art book.

What film and animation projects have you been involved in lately?

My focus is on experimental animation that’s mostly 2D. Right now I’m working on stop motion, cutout, and sand animation like the one-minute short film I made in the US. It’s called “Words” and it’s about the flow and transmission of sound. Can we really hear each other? Did you ever hear me?

I also made a puppet film called “Cage”. There’s a secret space within a man’s heart where he carefully places his late lover’s soul. This young girl wants to get out of her slender casket. She gently raps his heart, but no matter how much she struggles his love is all-confining. Until she starts to bleed drop by drop. A flower blooms from the thick blood and covers the entire heart. Please let me go. Using his finger the man traces a door on his chest and opens the door. The flowers gradually cover his body. A butterfly flits out through the door, flying father and farther away, carrying his love away.

Actually I’m thinking of making a comic about this.

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