Shafei Xia
Shafei Xia (b. 1989, Shaoxing, China) currently lives and works in Bologna, Italy. Shafei’s works explore the
cruder aspects of contemporary reality, in which we feel
powerless, frightened at times, and often insecure through
works that combine human emotions and animal instincts.
She makes paintings on sandal paper mounted on canvas
and ceramic works. She often represents herself as a tiger,
a symbol of power and instinctive force, which in Chinese
alchemy indicates the active principle, energy as opposed
to the passive principle. Furthermore, the tiger as the motif
has shown a gradual change in her works, it becomes
more playful and personable overtimes, hinting at the
subrogation of power among agents overtime.
In 2013, After graduating in set design from ChongQing University in China, she turned down a steady job in
her native city to move to Shanghai where after various experiences her first sale of a work enabled her to “catch the scent of freedom in the air,” as she writes. She moved to Bologna and completed her degree at the Fine Arts Academy in 2020. In 2019 she won the Talent Prize of Fondazione Zucchelli per l’Arte. Her recent exhibitions with the gallery include: It is Better to be Cats than be Loved, Tabula Rasa Gallery (London, 2022).
RELATED EXHIBITIONS
It is Better to be Cats than be Loved, Group show, Tabula Rasa London, July 2022
PRESS
In 2013, After graduating in set design from ChongQing University in China, she turned down a steady job in
her native city to move to Shanghai where after various experiences her first sale of a work enabled her to “catch the scent of freedom in the air,” as she writes. She moved to Bologna and completed her degree at the Fine Arts Academy in 2020. In 2019 she won the Talent Prize of Fondazione Zucchelli per l’Arte. Her recent exhibitions with the gallery include: It is Better to be Cats than be Loved, Tabula Rasa Gallery (London, 2022).
RELATED EXHIBITIONS
It is Better to be Cats than be Loved, Group show, Tabula Rasa London, July 2022
PRESS
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Tabula Rasa Gallery (London)
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Hoxton, London
N1 6AQ
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