Two series of Wang Xiaoben's paintings - "Wear, or Not," and "Cacti" are currently on display at the Vanguard Gallery in Moganshan art compound. The show runs through January 15.More than 15 of her art works are on display.Wang only paints females in her paintings. Her girls on canvas, with their oversized balloon heads, big, emotionless eyes, cicada-like limbs, look indifferent, infantile and defenseless. In the "Cacti" series, most of them have several wounds on their body. Some of their faces grimace knowingly, suggesting they are in pain.Blood and sex are two major elements in her creations. The artist wants to discuss her current thoughts on what the female role in society is and the relationship between the sexes through her work. In the "Wear, or Not" series the artist depicts girls removing their underwear.Wang's visually stunting paintings represent different stages in her life and they evoke strong emotions in many women."I paint what I know from my own experience," said the young artist from Sichuan Province. She has long and curly hair and a loud, forthright laugh. "I depict all my emotions in my paintings, fragile, strong, painful, depressed and indulgent."Wang's art works click with some female visitors because they sense that beneath the simple layout is a direct portal to a personal, almost intuitive vision."Her paintings remind me of myself, she has revealed the emotions of women through her paintings," said Oslyn Dey-Graff, a Brit who has lived in Shanghai for five years. She pointed at a painting in the corner. In the painting, a green-skinned girl is lying calmly on the cacti in a purple dress, eyes closed. A sharp thorn stabs her body. Her face is placid and cute, no struggling, yet it somehow conveys a vivid sense of pain."I am now going through this stage, comfortable with pain," Dey-Graff said. "Men will always be a part of my pain, or let's say women's pain."A friend of Wang once cried in front of one of her paintings from the "Wear, or Not" series. The painting depicts a girl, stuck in a bloody box, with no emotions on her face. Something has trapped her hands and she can't move."I like the way Wang interprets her emotions and feelings in her paintings, it is so direct and touching, at least for me," Lisa, Wang's white-collar friend, said. "Although we seem to be independent, at least economically independent, we sometimes feel insecure in this bustling society."At the age of thirty, Wang regards herself a semi-mature woman. "I have experienced some struggles time in my life, and my self-exploration will never end," she said.