Zadie Xa was born in Vancouver, Canada on unceded, ancestral and continually asserted territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) First Nations and is now based in London, UK. Xa earned an MA in Painting at the Royal College of Art in 2014 and a BFA at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in 2007. Her practice focuses on familial legacies, interspecies communication and diasporic worlding. Throughout her practice, Xa uses water and marine ecologies as metaphors for exploring the unknown whilst also alluding to abstract notions of homeland.
Xa’s practice is highly collaborative, and she has developed ongoing exchanges with dancers, and musicians. Since 2006, Xa has worked closely with artist Benito Mayor Vallejo. Together they have staged live performance, moving image, installations and painting. Xa is slated to open her solo exhibition at Whitechapel Gallery, London, in September 2022.
Xa currently lives and works in London, UK.
