Shanghai artist Yan Wei gives The Thing a 'grotesque, cute and childish' look

In Shanghai, The Thing has become synonymous with the concept of original-print T-shirts and funky hoodies, featuring slightly macabre and subtly subversive designs.

The store’s now taking its image one step (or should we say design?) further, teaming up with Beijing-based creative, and EDGE Creative Collective member Yan Wei, for a T-shirt design and in-store display than can only be described in one word: badass. Okay, maybe two words: very badass.

Yan Wei's T-shirt design.

According to NeochaEDGE, the image designed by Yan Wei is titled “Maze” and shows off her ability to balance dark imagery with lighter accents, making for a disturbing combination.

“I like to use contrasts to portray a disturbing reality under a lovely disguise,” says Yan Wei in an interview with NeochaEDGE. “My art is grotesque, but also cute and childish, all while incorporating dark and sinister elements.”

The combination for sinister and sinless is what draws people back to her work -- as well as her creative use of materials to get her point across. 

NeochaEDGE founder Sean Leow comments on her most recent work saying, “One detail we love are the strange and scary creatures in the girl’s mouth, surrounding the child, which are painted in UV ink and only show up under a dark light.” Nice touch. 

Under UV light, Yan Wei's monsters come out to play.

“I belong to a generation that grew up strongly influenced by manga, anime, comics, street art, and 1980s Chinese pop styles,” says Yan Wei in the same interview about where she gets her inspiration.

“Therefore, most of the themes in my art are centered around childhood, memory, games, and toys … Also, fairy tales have a special meaning to me: The feeling of helplessness in many of the stories is masked with innocence, which creates a world of contrasts and contradictions, hence exposing the reality of the world as it really is.”

The Thing, 276 Changle Lu, near Ruijin Yi Lu 长乐路276号, 瑞金一路; other locations: No. 22, 1/F, Metro Town, 890 Changning Lu, near Kaixuan Lu 长宁路890号玫瑰坊1楼, 近凯旋路; Shop 140, 169 Wujiang Lu, near Taixing Lu 吴江路169号140商铺, 近泰兴路; 60 Xinle Lu, near Xiangyang Bei Lu 新乐路60号, 近襄阳北路, 长乐路店, www.thething.cn