Howie Tsui on Mount Abundance and the Tiptoe People #1 and #2

Born in Hong Kong and raised in Nigeria and Ontario, Howie Tsui’s influences include ghost stories, Buddhist hell scrolls, Japanese monster culture, and Hong Kong vampire films. As part of his Horror Fables series, Tsui contributes to “Phantoms of Asia: Contemporary Awakens the Past” (on view at the Asian Art Museum from May 18-September 2, 2012) intricately drawn human-monster hybrids that combine imagery from traditional Asian folklore with contemporary pop culture. Tsui’s work emphasizes the disjunction between traditional fables and modern society—whereas fear is administered in fables to encourage morality, while today’s “climate of terror” is pervasively used to further partisan and economic interests.