Xia Zhang

Xia Zhang is a multi-disciplinary artist born in southern China, grew up in suburban Maryland, and came into adulthood in Appalachia. She creates from an autobiographical narrative, utilizing process as a medium to convey intersectional concepts of craft, colonialism, and femininity. Historical research heavily influences the materiality and narrative behind her work, as well as thoughts on cultural inheritance. Xia has been an avid outsider wallflower her whole life, and thus spends most of her time watching. Much of her work has evolved based on her observations from living in white-dominated communities from coal country to wine country. She earned an MFA in 2015 from West Virginia University in Studio Arts and has completed residencies with Sonoma Ceramics (Sonoma, CA) in 2015, and was awarded the Windgate Craft Artists Fellowship to participate at the Vermont Studio Center (Johnson, VT) in 2016. Since 2012, Xia has exhibited nationally and internationally. She was the Alice C. Cole Visiting Artist at Wellesley College
(Wellesley, MA) 2016-2017, and is currently a 2017-2018 resident artist at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts (Gatlinburg, TN).

Website:  http://www.xiayzhang.com