25/09/2026
A butterfly feeding on a co**se is a biological fact. In Miantanzhou’s art, it becomes an image of beauty with a cruel heart.
Based in Chengdu, the artist has developed a hand-drawn practice shaped by Chinese and Japanese folklore, ghost stories and Buddhist philosophy. His figures can be unsettling, but they also carry tenderness: beauty and decay share the same frame.
Miantanzhou calls himself a “darkist.” In an upcoming comic, a Clam Spirit lures sinners into a Buddhist hell and turns them into pearls. The world around her is filled with resentment, fading beauty and fear of death.
His work invites a feeling beyond horror. It asks us to look at suffering, and at the empathy we may find in recognizing it.
Art by 面瘫粥