© Xiyadie
13 rooms in Artist and Society
Xiyadie’s works express queer intimacy and joyful self-determination through the folk art of papercutting
Papercutting is one of the oldest and most popular Chinese folk arts. Xiyadie learned the craft from his mother, growing up in a farming family in rural Shaanxi province. Traditionally practised by women, papercutting is used to decorate windows and doorways to bring prosperity into the home. Xiyadie’s intricate compositions transform this practice, exploring queer intimacy and tender family relationships, like his bond with his son. These diaristic works document the intimate narratives of his life alongside the wider evolution of queer experience in China since the 1980s.
The artist chose the alias Xiyadie, meaning Siberian Butterfly – a beautiful creature that survives in the harshest conditions – to reflect his personal and artistic evolution. Although homosexuality was decriminalised in China in 1997, attitudes towards queer identities remain ambivalent.
This is my stage. Here I can dance with abandon, I can give free rein to my thoughts, I can live out my fantasies... Here, I can fly to the moon, I can become a butterfly, I can love, and I can hate. This is the place where I can be free.
Xiyadie