Helice Wen

Astro Boy, known in Japan by its original name Mighty Atom (Japanese: Tetsuwan Atomu), is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka from 1952 to 1968. The story follows the adventures of a robot named Astro Boy and a selection of other characters.

The manga was adapted for TV as Astro Boy, the first popular animated Japanese television series that embodied the aesthetic that later became familiar worldwide as anime. After enjoying success abroad, Astro Boy was remade in the 1980s as New Mighty Atom, known as Astroboy in other countries, and again in 2003. In November 2007, he was named Japan's envoy for overseas safety. An American computer-animated film based on the original manga series by Tezuka was released on October 23, 2009. In March 2015, a trailer was released announcing a new cartoon series.

Helice Wen was born in Shenzhen, China where her interest in art began at the age of 5 when she first started copying children’s book illustrations. After graduating from the Academy of Art University San Francisco in 2009, she began working as a children’s book illustrator. After leaving her illustration job a few years ago, Wen is now focused on creating gallery works. She has exhibited in New York, Florida, Melbourne, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. She currently resides in San Francisco, working as a full time artist.

Storybook: The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling | The tales in the book are fables, using animals in an anthropomorphic manner to give moral lessons. The verses of The Law of the Jungle, for example, lay down rules for the safety of individuals, families and communities. Kipling put in them nearly everything he knew or "heard or dreamed about the Indian jungle." Other readers have interpreted the work as allegories of the politics and society of the time. The best-known of them are the three stories revolving around the adventures of an abandoned "man cub" Mowgli who is raised by wolves in the Indian jungle. The most famous of the other stories are probably "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi", the story of a heroic mongoose, and "Toomai of the Elephants", the tale of a young elephant-handler. As with much of Kipling's work, each of the stories is preceded by a piece of verse, and succeeded by another.

The Jungle Book, because of its moral tone, came to be used as a motivational book by the Cub Scouts, a junior element of the Scouting movement. This use of the book's universe was approved by Kipling after a direct petition of Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Scouting movement, who had originally asked for the author's permission for the use of the Memory Game from Kim in his scheme to develop the morale and fitness of working-class youths in cities. Akela, the head wolf in The Jungle Book, has become a senior figure in the movement, the name being traditionally adopted by the leader of each Cub Scout pack.

Helice Wen was born in Shenzhen, China where her interest in art began at the age of 5 when she first started copying children’s book illustrations. After graduating from the Academy of Art University San Francisco in 2009, she began working as a children’s book illustrator. After leaving her illustration job a few years ago, Wen is now focused on creating gallery works. She has exhibited in New York, Florida, Melbourne, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. She currently resides in San Francisco, working as a full time artist.

Wanderlust is an international group exhibition inspired by travel, far-away places, adventurous experiences and fascinating destinations. Participating artists were given identical postcards and asked to create a unique piece for the show inspired by the theme “wanderlust”. Travel via boat, plane, foot, and yes, even jellyfish to your favorite destination in this eclectic and imaginative exhibition!

Wanderlust is an international group exhibition inspired by travel, far-away places, adventurous experiences and fascinating destinations. Participating artists were given identical postcards and asked to create a unique piece for the show inspired by the theme “wanderlust”. Travel via boat, plane, foot, and yes, even jellyfish to your favorite destination in this eclectic and imaginative exhibition!