Through an aesthetic steeped in manga and Final Fantasy, Lu Yang’s work uses the rubric of role-playing video games to model the possibility of liberation from repressive gender roles and societal norms, given compelling form through kinetic action and AAA-level video game graphics. However, the dream of liberation that Lu crafts is often complicated by images of physical anguish and an ongoing theme of cognitive manipulation, drawing on ideas and imagery from Hinduism and Buddhism (religions that place great philosophical emphasis on understanding mental projection and illusion) and neuroscience, particularly the study of stimulation and manipulation of the cerebral cortex. Lu’s work offers a unique and compelling investigation of metaphysical and embodied aspects of virtuality.