Clara Ma is a Ph.D. candidate in art and architectural history at the University of Virginia, where she is studying Buddhist art in the cave temples in Dunhuang and the rock carvings in Sichuan. She is currently writing a dissertation on the figural representations of Buddhist thaumaturges and the notion of miraculous transformation in the Tang and Song Dynasties. She received her B.A. in art history from St. Lawrence University, and after working in heritage conservation in Hong Kong, received her M.A. in art history and archaeology from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.