Yao Xiao
by Kate BlackYao Xiao is an artist and illustrator based in New York City. Xiao was kind enough to beautifully illustrate a timeline that takes our Program Guide through the years of SXSW Interactive up to now. Can't wait to see it? Experience it IRL in the printed version of the Program Guide you will receive at Promotional Materials when you pick up your SXSW Interactive, Gold or Platinum registration OR see it in the digital version of the SXSW Interactive Program Guide (coming soon!!). Meanwhile, feast your eyes on an example of her gorgeous illustration style below.

Silent Night by Yao XiaoOriginally from Tianjin, China, Xiao began traveling at the age of 16 and lived in Seattle, Memphis and Rockford, Illinois before she earned her BFA in illustration at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. Her whimsical yet well-rendered style covers a wide variety of subject matters, ranging from posters for underground parties, editorial illustrations for world travel magazines, and even to covers for adult novels. Most importantly, Xiao is a storyteller. She believes that stories are a basic form of communication that help to bring people together, and that in every story there is personal truth. Xiao reimagines these personal truths through her art, drawing upon real characters and emotions, never allowing her expression to be limited by the normal conventions of reality.

We'd like to thank her for so elegantly capturing the beginning, middle and present of the event that we love so much. For more of Xiao's work, please visit yaoxiaoart.com or contact yaoxart@gmail.com for any inquiries.