As a child growing up in an Asian neighbourhood in the UK, Kully Rehal, a 30-year-old artist, was aware of an immigrant’s travails. After all, her parents experienced it first-hand.
By late last year, Rehal decided she wanted the world to know about the struggles of Asians, particularly the women, who were first-timers in a foreign land. Inspired by her father, a painter himself, Rehal set out to create a set of cartoons around “superhero aunties.”
These aunties are portrayed in her works as popular comic book heroes such as Deadpool, Catwoman, and Hulk.
“I chose Marvel characters which symbolise individual powers for each person,” Rehal said. ”When I started my superhero aunties series, I simply reminisced about stereotypical surroundings which I grew up in the mid-80s and wanted to shed light and pay tribute to the struggles, sacrifices, and success stories after moving from their motherlands to the UK.”
Eventually, Rehal began spending more time with Asians in the “60s club” to hear their stories. ”Each and every person, no matter what caste creed or gender, has a story to tell.”
“To me, this Superhero Aunty series is paying tribute to all those aunties who have experienced various types of struggles after moving to this country, such as racism, sacrifices, domestic, verbal abuse, and generally working hard labour, that they had to endure.”
Here are some of Rehal’s Superhero Aunties.
