西亚蝶 Xiyadie

西亚蝶（1963年生于陕西渭南）

西亚蝶以自学的剪纸创作讲述自身性意识转变的故事。他在2005年北漂打工时开始以西伯利亚蝴蝶为艺名，北京活跃的同志亚文化圈也成了他的避风港。正如他自己所形容，能在恶劣气候中存活的西伯利亚蝴蝶代表了他在一个压抑酷儿群体及其权利的环境中仍能够保有蝴蝶般的华丽和对自由的追求。

他的陕西老家保留了源自东汉的剪纸传统，并在80年代末一度是民间艺术的重镇。西亚蝶颠覆历史形式，采用传统的剪纸表现酷儿情欲。画面中，人与自然融为一体，同志的生命力就交叠在各种动植物的丰饶繁盛之中。传统的剪纸在创作一件作品时是叠着多张宣纸同时进行剪裁，西亚蝶偶尔也以报纸代替，或用彩纸拼贴，并为不同版数单独进行细腻的手工染色。

西亚蝶曾于西安电影制片厂的工艺部门工作。自从他在北京同志中心（2010）举行个展以来，他也广泛参展世界各地的展览，其中包括曼谷艺术文化中心（2019）及台北当代艺术馆（2017）的《光合作用：亚洲当代同志议题展》。他的作品也曾在华沙Ujazdowski城堡当代艺术中心（2020）；北京长征空间（2019）；卢布尔雅那平面艺术双年展（2019）；上海外滩美术馆（2019）；光州双年展（2018）；柏林Nome 画廊（2018）；香港Para Site空间（2017）、安特卫普Verbeeck画廊（2015）、阿姆斯特丹热带博物馆（2015）、哥德堡世界文化博物馆（2013）、斯德哥尔摩东亚博物馆（2012）、美国圣佩德罗Flazh!Alley艺术工作室（2012）等地展出。关于西亚蝶的报导散见于Hyperallergic、BBC、洛杉矶时报、环球时报、陕西电视台、东方卫视、央视、et alors?、倡导者。他是中国民间文艺家协会和陕西省民间文艺家协会的会员。

Xiyadie (b. 1963, Shaanxi, China) is a self-taught traditional Chinese papercut artist who starting creating works with homoerotic themes to tell his narrative of transformation. Xiyadie means Siberian Butterfly, a name he chose after his move to Beijing as a migrant worker in 2005, where he found an accepting community in the burgeoning gay subcultural scene. As he relates, the Siberian Butterfly is a northern creature. Surviving in the harshest conditions, it maintains its vanity and pursuit of freedom in an environment that does not lend political agency or representation to queer-identifying people.

In the late 1980s, his native Shaanxi Province was a centre for the preservation of folk arts including papercutting, which originates in the Eastern Han Dynasty (25–220 CE). Xiyadie subverts this historical form by depicting scenes of queer eroticism, where human beings are fused with nature and gay virility combines with the fertility of gardens and animal life. Due to the thinness of Chinese rice paper traditionally used for this craft, each work is made in editions, though the artist also works with materials like newspaper and silk, intricately cut and dyed by hand.

Xiyadie has worked in the crafts department of the Xi’an Film Studio. Since his debuted solo exhibition at the Beijing LGBT Center (2010), his works have been shown extensively. He was a participating artist in Spectrosynthesis: Asian LGBTQ Issues and Art Now at BACC, Bangkok (2019) and MOCA, Taipei (2017) marking the largest survey exhibitions of its kind in Asia. His works have also been shown at Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw; Long March Space, Beijing (2019); Ljubljana Biennial of Graphic Arts (2019); Gwangju Biennale (2018); Nome Gallery, Berlin (2018); Para Site, Hong Kong (2017); Galerie Verbeeck – Van Dyck, Antwerp (2015); Topenmuseum, Amsterdam (2015); Museum of World Culture, Gothenburg (2013); Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm (2012); and Flazh!Alley Art Studio, San Pedro, USA (2012). Xiyadie has been profiled by Hyperallergic, BBC News, Los Angeles Times, Global Times, Shaanxi TV, Dragon TV, CCTV, et alors? and Advocate. He is a member of the China Society for the Study of Folk Literature and Art, as well as the Shaanxi Society for the Study of Folk Literature and Art. His work is held in the public collection of Tate.