Bu Hua (; born 1973) is a digital artist based in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, China, best known for her

flash animation Adobe Flash animation or Adobe Flash cartoon (formerly Macromedia Flash animation, Macromedia Flash cartoon, FutureSplash animation, and FutureSplash cartoon) is an animation that is created with the Adobe Animate (formerly Flash Professional) p ...

works.

Early life and education

Bu was born in 1973. The daughter of a well-known printblock artist, Bu had an early introduction to art and in 1983, when only 10 years old, her painting ''Sun Bird Flower and I'' was selected by the

China Post China Post, legally the China Post Group Corporation ( zh, 中国邮政集团有限公司, Pinyin: ''Zhōngguó yóuzhèng jítuán yǒuxiàn gōngsī''), is the state-owned enterprise operating the official postal service of China, which provi ...

and issued as a stamp as part of a "children's paintings election" (special stamp T86). Following just a few years later in 1985, the

Hong Kong Arts Centre Hong Kong Arts Centre (HKAC; ) is a non-profit arts institution and art museum established in 1977. It promotes contemporary performing arts, visual arts, film and video arts. It also provides arts education. Its rival is the government-managed ...

hosted a small exhibition wall of Bu's work.

Career

Although Bu majored in painting while at university, she discovered her passion for animation through her interest in film, and found that "Flash can help people realize their dream of being a filmmaker." An early adopter and pioneer of using

Flash Animation Adobe Flash animation or Adobe Flash cartoon (formerly Macromedia Flash animation, Macromedia Flash cartoon, FutureSplash animation, and FutureSplash cartoon) is an animation that is created with the Adobe Animate (formerly Flash Professional) p ...

, Bu's ''Cat'' animation went viral upon its release in 2002. Influenced by seeing the work of

William Kentridge William Kentridge (born 28 April 1955) is a South African artist best known for his prints, drawings, and animated films, especially noted for a sequence of hand-drawn animated films he produced during the 1990s. The latter are constructed by ...

while in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, she hoped to similarly combine drawing, painting and animation. In recent years she has developed a central character to a number of her video and illustrative works, based on Bu as a child. Through the perspective of this alter ego figure, her work explores the tulmultuous social landscape. “In modern China, how could you not be influenced by this fusion of West and East, this cultural invasion and ‘soft power’? I am just reflecting this reality."

Works

* ''Cat'' (2002), Flash * ''Savage Growth'' (2008), Flash * ''Maomao's Summer'' * ''Wisdom'', Picture book, * ''The Best Has Already Come'' (2017)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bu, Hua 1973 births Living people Artists from Beijing 20th-century Chinese women artists 20th-century Chinese artists 21st-century Chinese women artists 21st-century Chinese artists Tsinghua University alumni