Description
This catalogue is in conjunction with the exhibition “Xiyadie: Butterfly Dream” at Blindspot Gallery in Hong Kong, from 26 March to 18 May, 2024. Born in 1963 in Weinan, Shaanxi province, Xiyadie is a self-taught traditional Chinese papercut artist who uses a medium with origins dating back to the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 CE) to narrate his journey of coming out from rural China as a homosexual person. His autobiographical papercuts chronicle his transformation through an environment that does not lend political agency to queer identifying people, while also reflecting the struggle of a marginalized individual as a migrant worker in the big city. The exhibition titled “Butterfly Dream” alludes to the artist’s pseudonym Xiyadie, meaning the Siberian Butterfly, emblematic of resilience and its flamboyant beauty. It signifies the artist’s determined pursuit of freedom and endurance in the harshest conditions.
