Zadie Xa Conjures Fantastical Dreamscapes with Her Immersive Works of Art

Her London show at Whitechapel Gallery in 2022, meanwhile, titled “House Gods, Animal Guides and Five Ways 2 Forgiveness,” centered on a patchwork fabric structure inspired by the traditional Korean home, called a hanok. Inside was a series of Xa’s otherworldly textiles and paintings—colorful dreamscapes in which humans and animals coexist. “I’m very interested in how people have used animals within the semiotic universe,” says Xa.

Her imagery often features shape-shifter or trickster characters—“something that’s able to change its form to either look human or to deceive whoever it’s talking to,” she explains. For her debut at Thaddaeus Ropac gallery in Paris, on display through May 26, a focus is the nine-tailed fox spirit that appears in different Asian stories. “It will often disguise itself as an attractive young woman to seduce men, then consume their intestines in order to either live longer, gain wisdom, or ultimately become a human itself,” she says. 

These works will also incorporate elements of costume making and examine how clothes play a role in creating—and sometimes altering—one’s identity, says Xa, who plans all of her exhibitions “as if it’s one work,” collaborating at every stage with her husband, fellow artist Benito Mayor Vallejo. “He gives a lot of feedback and inserts a lot of his own ideas,” she says. “It’s a real team effort.”

A version of this article first appeared in print in our 2024 Spring Issue under the headline “Personal Vision.” Subscribe to the magazine.