About
Her paintings often take on a contemporary surreal character. Figures and spaces are stretched, fused, or undone, suspended between beauty and absurdity. Radiant color collides with unsettling symbols, producing a tension of intimacy and estrangement. Dreamlike objects, ambiguous spaces, and theatrical compositions suggest the persistence of myth and ritual in the present. Moving between expressive marks and planar images, she keeps her visual language open and multiple. Her work addresses affect, gender, and power while extending toward social conflict, spiritual experience, and historical memory, asking viewers to reflect on time, ritual, and community through a cultivated strangeness.
Alongside her visual practice, Xiaoxiao is a pianist, composer, and producer. Trained in classical piano from an early age, she turned to visual art as a teenager after receiving her first camera, gradually moving from photography into film and painting. Her music bridges composition, jazz, and improvisation while drawing on electronic and club culture. Concentrating on electroacoustic and experimental chamber forms, she explores the meeting of structure and spontaneity through prepared piano, synthesizers, sampling, field recordings, and extended techniques.
She holds dual BFAs in Experimental Animation and Music Composition from the California Institute of the Arts.
Contact: studioxiaoxiaoma [at] gmail [dot] com