Anak Asia presents a dramatic montage of child casualties from the Vietnam War. The smiling face of a child soldier peeks out from beneath a helmet, while above him is printed a close-up of another child’s frightened expression. On the left, the image of a dead baby on the ground is repeated several times. Children, being the most innocent and vulnerable members of society, feature prominently in the works of Malaysian artist Nirmala Dutt. 

The images have been xeroxed from newspapers and screen-printed onto the painted canvas. Nirmala has chosen to use silkscreen printing (as opposed to collage) so that her brushstrokes would show beneath the images. While studying in the United States in the late 60s, she had been exposed to  Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art, and the influence of both movements are evident in the works she created upon her return to Malaysia in the early 70s. Against the brown wash of the canvas, the faces of these children strike a sharp, monochromatic contrast. The rough xeroxed quality of their faces suggests  how as a result of  the endless reproductions of such  images in the mass media, we become  desensitised to the horrors of war.