Dreamy, thought-provoking illustrations from Dadu Shin

There’s something otherworldly about Dadu Shin’s illustrations. Miniature people wander about an overgrown fairy-tale forest, an avatar-like hand reaches out into a tie-dye galaxy, a man walks a lonely path over rocks which form the silhouette of a woman’s face.

Dreaming up pictures is just what titles like The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal and The Boston Globe commission Shin for. His illustrations are intelligent, lending depth, colour and imagination to editorial pieces; creating another world reflecting back on our own.

In one image, a bemused, suited stick man contemplates how time is running out on climate change, peering into a giant hourglass slowly filling with grains from a vivid sand sky. In another, a serenely glowing figure adopts the lotus position atop a skyscraper, depicting the “the rising popularity of mindfulness in a capitalist society”. It’s beautiful, engaging, and thought-provoking stuff.