STATEMENTS: Medialia Gallery & The Ethyr Presents: Aim, Destroy, Transform: Play for Change Toy Show :: November 2017 :: NYC :: Animini Series: My Hero Dragons by Kenya Danino

I am a very picky cartoon watcher. Lately, I’ve seen a instant craze surround this new Anime called “My Hero Academia.” The kids I work with at my school are aware of this show/manga and find deep value and inspiration in the characters motives to use the powers they were born with for the purpose of helping others. I gave it a watch and loved the instant theme of self-introspection I was hit with. There is a saying in Japan on Children’s Day, “that a carp who swims upstream against the current will one day become a dragon.” The characters’ growth of courage in the series are tracked since they were 4 years old. I decided to depict some of my favorite MHA characters as dragons in these resin sculptures. The characters show the most intense want to destroy preconceived notions of people with powers (or “quirks”) in their world to prove they have what it takes to be a useful force for good and not destruction.

~ Kenya Danino



AIM, DESTROY, TRANSFORM: Play For Change: A group show of toys, games and figures at Medialia Gallery