Xiaoyan graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Fashion Design in 2018 from Rhode Island School of Design. Her past designs spotlighted gender issues, social class, and power dynamics between individuals, and were featured in multiple publications, participating in New York Fashion Week and Paris Fashion Week. She worked in New York City and Paris for multiple renowned brands from 2018 to 2021 before relocating to London to pursue an M.A. in History of Art at the Courtauld Institute of Art. Her M.A. dissertation focused on the visibility of queer community in the Weimar Republic. Growing up in Russia, China, and the United States, her personal experiences led her to develop a keen interest in the sociopolitical and economic issues, as well as the situation of the queer community and women of the Eastern and Western Blocs.

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Research Interests
Visual Culture, Queer and Gender Studies, Soviet Russia and Germany, Cold War Europe, Modernism, Material Culture.

 

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