![A six panel comic of Baopu, an Asian queer person with red hair. In the first two panels, Baopu recognizes that it's June 1st officially kicking off Pride, which is marked with rainbow merchandise in stores. In the third panel Baopu is buying a plane ticket home and asking, "I wonder who I am when I am 'back home.'" In the fourth, they are on the plane and still wondering, "Will I maintain a sense of self or regress really hard?" In the fifth panel, there is a close up of Baopu sitting in the plane in black and white as they wonder "Is 'home' still my reality? Is 'home' a dream?" And in the final panel, a plane flies in the clouds as we see their last thought bubble, "It's always going to be part of my life." Underneath the plan is a small pride flag and three pink hearts, along with the words "doing it!"](https://www.autostraddle.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Baopu113-YaoXiao-web.jpg?resize=1220%2C1873)
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Yao Xiao is a China-born illustrator based in New York City. Yao Xiao creates artwork depicting a poetic visual world where complex concepts and human emotions are examined, amplified, and given physical form.
Her work has helped people all over the globe connect at unique moments, from the celebration of the 20 Year Anniversary of the SXSW Interactive Festival, to the grand release of pop singer Katy Perry's single 'Dark Horse.' She has created deeply emotional and beautiful graphics for editorial print publications, pop music record covers, concert posters and book covers.
Yao Xiao's serialized comic Baopu currently runs monthly on Autostraddle. It is an original comic exploring the nuances in searching for identities, connections and friendships through the fictional life of a young, queer emigrant.
Baopu stands for 'holding simplicity,' a Taoist ideal of wishing to return to a simpler state.
Find her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Etsy or her website.
Yao has written 132 articles for us.
Hang on to that sense of self for dear life! Or… just let things slide and keep the peace?
Beautiful, thank you.
Love how you conveyed an entire backstory and rainbow (lol) of emotions in just a few panels. Nothing self-indulgent here. Just a really expertly designed comic.
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This is a nice short comic, can you do more of this? Concrete Contractors Near Iowa City IA