Baopu #97: Ancestry

In a 12 panel comic, Yao falls asleep to a night sky that is shades of blush pink and purple. They awake too early and mumble "one more hour" before turning over and going back to asleep. The comic turns gold as we enter Yao's dream. Yao walks into a kitchen shaded in colors of Yellow, also at night, and then finds themself over a large pot of dark soup, which they stir with a spoon. They drink the soup and are hugged by a woman in their family. Yao wakes up with alert eyes and the final panel says "Ancestry!"

Before you go! Autostraddle runs on the reader support of our AF+ Members. If this article meant something to you today — if it informed you or made you smile or feel seen, will you consider joining AF and supporting the people who make this queer media site possible?

Join AF+!

Yao Xiao

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 134 articles for us.

2 Comments

  1. This made me tear up and if someone asked me to explain why I couldn’t…but i somehow know why

Comments are closed.