Tifa Lockhart 

Stanley Artgerm Lau created this image of Tifa Lockhart, a character from the popular video game Final Fantasy VII, using digital painting techniques. Tifa’s presentation here reflects a complex interplay of empowerment and objectification, a common theme in contemporary pop culture. The visual codes are clear. Her athletic build and fighting stance project strength and agency, while the stylized proportions and pose lean into conventional beauty standards. This duality speaks to the broader social context in which the artwork was made; a culture grappling with evolving notions of gender and representation. The character and the image are a product of game and media institutions and marketing strategies. This has also been influenced by decades of anime, manga and cosplay sub-cultures. Historians studying images like these might draw on sources from media studies, gender studies and the history of advertising in order to better understand their place in culture. Art’s meaning is always bound up with its social and institutional context.