NEWS: Bridge Welcomes New Visual Art Section Editor Xiao Faria daCunha

Xiao Faria daCunha, image courtesy the artist.

NEWS: Bridge Welcomes New Visual Art Section Editor Xiao Faria daCunha

Bridge welcomes new Visual Art section Editor Xiao DaCunha (@xiaochineseart). Writer, artist, curator, facilitator, and journalist. Xiao wears many hats, but in the end, they all trickle down to one thing: humanitarianism. Her journey with Bridge started as a freelance contributor for the online magazine, and evolved into a regular contributor to the Fwd: Museums Journal as a book reviewer. Now, Xiao will serve as Bridge’s visual arts editor over the next two years.

Xiao’s artistic journey began when she came to the US to pursue her lifetime mission as a writer, an archivist, and a storyteller. Visual art soon became an integral part of her practice, starting off with watercolor illustrations stemming from Chinese symbolisms, folktales, and literary lores, drawing inspiration from her experience as a full-time fiction writer back in China.

As her visual art practice evolved over the next five years, so did her writings. Growing from her personal identity and experience, Xiao began her investigation of the collective diasporic and women’s identity to demystify the Chinese-American experience while actively deconstructing and reconstructing her cultural practices. It was during that period when Xiao began explore arts writing and independent journalism, as well as using visual art and writing as a tool to make space for essential conversations to happen.

Currently, Xiao is a practicing visual artist and an independent journalist covering what’s happening in the Midwest belt, focusing on lifestyle, art, and culture. Her visual art practice includes mixed-media illustration on paper, printmaking, and mixed-media collage. Xiao travels back and forth between Chicago and Kansas City, where she recently bought a home to serve as her powerhouse and art factory for the foreseeable future, and other cities throughout the midwest to bring underheard and underrepresented voices to the forefront.

Xiao was the former Managing Editor for Urban Matter Chicago, and her bylines have appeared in Chicago Reader, BlockClub, and Bridge Chicago, KCUR, The Pitch KC, and more. She considers all her practices essentially journalism practices to speak on behalf of those who haven’t been heard and shed light on what hasn’t been seen, whether it’s emotional, cultural, or societal. When she is not working, she writes experimental essays and personal narratives and creates textured and sentimental art in various media that tell the Chinese diasporic story.