Xiaoyan Jiang

Curriculum Vitae

Education
B.F.A. Rhode Island School of Design, 2018
M.A. Courtauld Institute of Art, 2022

Biography
Xiaoyan graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Art 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 Weimar Republic. Growing up in Russia, China, and the United States, her personal experiences led her to develop a keen interest in cultures across Eastern and Western Blocs. She is currently working on her PhD dissertation titled “Unmaking Modernism: Gender, Mobility, and the Global Circulation of Form in the Early Twentieth Century.”

Research Interests
European and Russian Visual Culture, Modernism, Queer and Gender Studies, Cold War, Modern and Contemporary Chinese Art, Material Culture.

Publications
“From Gaming to Divination: The Shifting Role of the Lenormand Deck.” Studies in Social Science & Humanities 3, no. 7 (July 2024): 59–74.

Award(s)
2024 Douglas Schewe Award for Best Graduate Student Paper
“Staging Realities: Theatricality and Illusion in M. Butterfly”
2025 Creative Arts Awards—Joan Spero and C. Michael Spero Grant

Primary Advisor(s)
Jill H. Casid