Rei Xiao

Artist Statement

My work inhabits autobiographical imagery merging with dreamscapes and chimeric figures — layering meaning and narrative within and beyond the frame. I explore realms outside of trauma which I often perceive as blackness stretched out to infinity in all directions. Darkness is my zero point in a vast coordinate system, from which I investigate new compositions through whimsical and morbid visual motifs. Finding the lexicon of my consciousness to navigate the tension between being immersed and setting out from that place of darkness keeps my creative urges in motion.

This push-and-pull often draws from my Chinese-Turkish heritage, which is the root of my interest in depicting hybridity, in-betweenness, and juxtaposition while projecting my inner world onto the vessels of objects and animals. Using this imagery, I depict stories that are grounded in reality but evolve into other realms. Often questioning the validity of perceived reality and its layers within our consciousness, I feel driven to investigate how I can distort or explore something beyond it in my practice. 

Biography

Rei Xiao is a Chinese-Turkish visual artist born and raised in Istanbul, Turkey She received her BFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University. Rei has been exhibiting her works since the age of 17. She had her first solo show through Mamut Art Project in 2019 in Istanbul; and participated in group exhibitions in New York, London, and Boston. Her work was featured in a juried exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, "Archive and Autobiography" in 2022, and the same year, she received the Elizabeth Greenshields Grant. Her most recent group show “Katharsis: The Share of the Silent” was in Istanbul at March Art Project in 2024. The same year, she participated in Vermont Studio Center on full fellowship and ChaNorth Artist Residencies. She is based in Brooklyn, New York, and has been working as a painter and a tattoo artist.

Bosphorus Kittens, Oil on panel, 4x5 in, 2024
Snowflakes dissolving in their own sticky blood, Oil on canvas, 28x32 in, 2024
Uterus pot,11x14 in, Oil on canvas, 2023
Baking mommy, Oil on canvas, 61x64 in, 2022
The flea parade, 27x27 inches, Oil on canvas, 2021