Braid

The Biennial of Illustration Bratislava (BIB), the prime award-giving body for Children's books, chose Chinese illustrator Bingchun Huang (Mi Hei) as a 2015 Golden Apple Award-winner.

Often neglected by adults, Braid explores the inner world of a little girl as her prized long hair is cut off by a hair buyer. The deal was set by her grandmother to earn some extra money but with no approval from the little girl.

Huang also let her imagination run wild as the little girl sheds tears over her loss and tries every replacement possible to extend her short hair until she runs into a couple of dogs whose heads have grow tree forks with all sorts of braids hanging on them. In the end, the little girl fails to extend her short hair as these braids are alive and run away.

From a child's perspective, Braid seems to tell us that a child's world is far simpler than what most adults think, and that they are able to release pain and other negative emotions in their own ways. Maybe that's the price they need to pay for growing up.

As an etching work, Braid delicately explores the shift of the little girl's inner world through the change of brown colors and composition, making readers feel deeply attached to the little girl and her lost braids.