{{Short description|Hong Kong artist}} {{Infobox person | name = Stella So | image = Stella_So_self-portrait.png | alt = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software --> | caption = Self-portrait of the artist at work | birth_name = <!-- only use if different from name --> | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1977}} | birth_place = | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (DEATH date then BIRTH date) --> | death_place = | nationality = | other_names = | occupation = Illustrator | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works = }} '''Stella So Man-yee''' ({{zh|蘇敏怡}}, born 1977) is a Hong Kong illustrator, comic artist and writer.
==Biography== So began drawing from a young age and grew up with Japanese manga such as ''Doraemon'', ''Dr. Slump'', ''Heidi'', as well as the work of Hayao Miyazaki. She cites the influence of her uncles and her secondary school art teacher Mrs. Lam on her early artistic development.<ref name="2019book">{{cite book |last1=So |first1=Stella |editor1-last=Ogi |editor1-first=Fusami |editor2-last=Suter |editor2-first=Rebecca |editor3-last=Nagaike |editor3-first=Kazumi |editor4-last=Lent |editor4-first=John A. |title=Women's Manga in Asia and Beyond |date=2019 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=London |isbn=9783319972282 |pages=353–359 |url=https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2F978-3-319-97229-9_21.pdf |chapter=Manga in Hong Kong|series=Palgrave Studies in Comics and Graphic Novels |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-97229-9_21 |s2cid=193112087 }}</ref>
In 2002, So graduated from the School of Design of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.<ref name="CUHKbio">{{cite web |title=SO Man Yee Stella |url=https://www.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/~fadept/?academic-staffs=so-man-yee-stella |website=Department of Fine Arts |publisher=Chinese University of Hong Kong |access-date=14 March 2021}}</ref> Her graduation piece, an animated short called ''Very Fantastic'', won an IFVA gold award in the short film/animation category in 2002. The film explores the disappearing ''tong lau'' of Hong Kong.
So's work draws inspiration from the sights and sounds of Hong Kong, in particular traditional cityscapes and shops.<ref name="hkmagazine2006">{{cite news |title=Hong Kong artist, Stella So |url=https://www.scmp.com/magazines/hk-magazine/article/2031987/hong-kong-artist-stella-so |work=HK Magazine |date=5 January 2006}}</ref> She advocates an appreciation for the cultural and aesthetic value of old Hong Kong buildings and districts, as well as their connection to local history and collective memory.<ref name="wenweipoprofile">{{cite news |title=Stella So：行樓梯 找靈感 |url=http://paper.wenweipo.com/2007/11/26/SY0711260005.htm |work=Wen Wei Po |date=26 November 2007}}</ref> So visits, explores, and records areas of Hong Kong slated for redevelopment, and incorporates images of these neighbourhoods into her work in order to draw attention to their disappearance and "wake up the people to parts of life soon to be lost". So has been cited as one of several artists expressing opposition to the "ravages of corporatism" in Hong Kong.<ref name="asiancomicsbook">{{cite book |last1=Lent |first1=John A. |title=Asian Comics |date=2015 |publisher=University Press of Mississippi |isbn=9781496813015}}</ref>
She also authors the ''Old Girl'' ({{zh|老少女|labels=no}}) comic series. This was originally published on a weekly basis in the ''Ming Pao'' newspaper, and is a semi-autobiographical, light-hearted account of the daily life of a single woman and her cat, presented in an episodic (diary-like) format.<ref name="chukinwai">{{cite journal |last1=Chu |first1=Kin-wai |title=Women Living in Solitude: A Case Study of The Base of an Old Girl and Hitorigurashi Mo 5 Nen Me |journal=Feminist Encounters |date=April 2020 |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=1–16 |doi=10.20897/femenc/7910|doi-access=free |hdl=1854/LU-01HBRECR9W57142QYYZDA6MGWK |hdl-access=free }}</ref> The comic strips have been republished in several compilation books. A sculpture of the "Old Girl" character was included in the Hong Kong Avenue of Comic Stars in Kowloon Park.<ref>{{cite web |title=Old Girl |url=https://www.comicavenue.hk/old-girl-eng |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210306224544/https://www.comicavenue.hk/old-girl-eng |archive-date=6 March 2021 |access-date=14 March 2021 |website=Hong Kong Avenue of Comic Stars |publisher=Hong Kong Comics and Animation Federation}}</ref>
So also worked as an instructor at the Department of Fine Arts at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
==Selected works== * ''An Artist’s Impression of Hong Kong’s Intangible Cultural Heritage'' (2018) – series of illustrations depicting Hong Kong intangible cultural heritage. Commissioned by Leisure and Cultural Services Department and displayed inside Hong Kong International Airport on a temporary basis.<ref name="hkiadisplay">{{cite web |title=An Artist's Impression of HKICH |url=https://www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Museum/Conservation/en_US/web/co/airport_display_hkich.html |publisher=Leisure and Cultural Services Department |access-date=14 March 2021 |date=2018}}</ref> * ''Streets and Alleys of the Western District'' (2014) – public art inside HKU station. Led by So, 150 local students helped create illustrations depicting the people, culture, landmarks, and general townscape of Western District. The artwork is a digital print applied to the corridors and lift interiors of one exit of an underground station.<ref name="hku1">{{cite web |title=Streets and Alleys of the Western District I |url=http://www.mtr.com.hk/en/customer/community/art_archi_hku_streets1.html |website=Art in Station Architecture |publisher=MTR Corporation |access-date=14 March 2021}}</ref> * ''Don't Want to Let Go'', Eason Chan (2008) – album artwork * ''{{zh|下落不明|labels=no}}'', Anthony Wong Yiu-ming (2003) – animated music video * ''Very Fantastic'' (2002) – animated short
== Books == * {{cite book |last1=So |first1=Stella |last2=Wu |first2=Yim-chung |title=盂蘭的故事 |date=2016 |publisher=Joint Publishing |location=Hong Kong |isbn=9789887742104 |language=zh-hant}} * {{cite book |last1=So |first1=Stella |title=老少女之我是村姑! |date=2015 |publisher=Joint Publishing |location=Hong Kong |isbn=9789620434716 |language=zh-hant}} * {{cite book |last1=So |first1=Stella |title=老少女心事 |date=2013 |publisher=Joint Publishing |location=Hong Kong |isbn=9789620432453 |language=zh-hant}} * {{cite book |last1=So |first1=Stella |title=老少女基地 |date=2009 |publisher=Joint Publishing |location=Hong Kong |isbn=9789620428135 |language=zh-hant}} * {{cite book |last1=So |first1=Stella |title=粉末都市：消失中的香港 |date=2008 |publisher=Joint Publishing |location=Hong Kong |isbn=9789620426056|language=zh-hant}} * {{cite book |last1=So |first1=Stella |title=好鬼棧 : 不可思議的戰前唐樓 |date=2007 |publisher=Joint Publishing |location=Hong Kong |isbn=9789620426087 |language=zh-hant}}
==See also== * Hong Kong comics
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{official website|http://www.stellaso.com/}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:So, Stella}} Category:1977 births Category:Living people Category:Academic staff of the Chinese University of Hong Kong Category:Alumni of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University Category:Hong Kong comics artists Category:Hong Kong illustrators Category:Hong Kong women artists Category:21st-century Chinese illustrators