Born in Shanghai, China in 1983, Danni Shinya Luo moved to California in 1995. She fell in love with art in grade school and she continues to pursue her passion for creativity. After a few years of private study (and an apprenticeship with Chinese watercolor master, Ding Ha), Shinya was accepted into Art Center College of Design in Pasadena where she majored in illustration and graduated with honor in 2006. Shinya’s body of work is largely based on the female form.  She has always felt that the female form deserves viewers’ appreciation.  In her opinion, the natural curves and proportions of a woman’s body are a work of art.  In addition to the female form, Shinya also draws inspiration from nature, high fashion, music, as well as human fears and obsessions. She has always been fascinated by the intricate designs, patterns, and colors that can be found throughout the natural world.  Her interests in exploring the nuances of human fear and obsession come from a desire to create tension or emotional intensity in her work.  These elements can be manifested in anything from fear of physical harm, sexual confrontation, psychological disturbance or obsession with an item, desire, or person and/ or creature. Shinya is personally drawn to these ideas because of her interests in human nature in general.  By exploring this subject in her artwork, the Chinese-American artist learns more about herself and society as a whole.

Quickly transitioning from promising art student to next big thing, Shinya participated in key group art shows and select solo exhibitions. Her artwork has been published in such periodicals as Bust and Initiativa, and books like Eye Candy and Sugar & Spice, as well as design projects like Nickelodeon’s Neopets and a line of toy dolls for Hasbro. In the year that has passed since her exhibition (2010′s Spiritual Deficiencies), Shinya has published (and completely sold-out of) a collected volume of her gallery-exhibited work, Breaking the Ice.

Shinya also helped develop the re-branding of Marvel Comics’ signature female mutant X-23 (providing the cover art for the first three issues). In April 2012, her second book, Soft Candy: The Art of Danni Shinya Luo, was released through seminal art publisher Last Gasp Books. Soft Candy features a full-color, 200-page collection of new drawings and paintings including artworks showcased in her 2011 solo exhibition Chaotic Harmony at Los Angeles’ La Luz de Jesus gallery.