Qiana Liao

An artist based in China

Passionate about art, Qiana Liao graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design in Nanjing, China, and continued to enrich herself through studies overseas – textile design at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, and in calligraphy at the Cooper Union.

Graduating in 2012 with a Masters degree in Visual Communication from Pratt Institute (New York), she worked for seven years with The Natori Company, a women’s fashion designer and manufacturer based in New York City. As Senior Graphic Designer there, she was involved in branding and communications, textile designs, product packaging, storefront displays, showroom design planning, as well as photography and fashion shows.

During her time in New York, she was an active member in the Society of Scribes in New York Calligraphy Association, assisting in preparation of Holiday Fair events. The teachers under whom Qiana had the privilege to study is a veritable rolodex of famed calligraphy teachers including Yukimi Annand, Luca Barcellona, Gemma Black, Anthony Bloch, Liesbet Boudens, Patricia Buttice, Harvest Crittenden, Suzanne Cunningham, Debra Dick, Cara Di Edwardo, James Farrell, Christopher Haanes, Heather Held, Paul Herrera, Elinor Holland, Yves Leterme, Sherrie Lovler, Kathy Milici, Vivian Mungall, Anna Pinto, Marcy Robinson, Paul Shaw, John Stevens, Elmo van Slingerman, Michael Sull, Leslie Watkins, Sheila and Julian Waters, Eleanor Winters, Rachel Yallop, Loredana Zega.

Qiana was the book designer for Eleanor Winters’ Paris / Auschwitz: Remembering the Children A la Mémoire des Enfants Déportés, published in 2019. Her designs were also published in a collection of works of over 40 calligraphers from around the world in “Morphing Monograms – Creating Calligraphic Pinwheels by Hand and by Scan”, authored by Barrs Marantz and Marcia Friedman published in 2018.

Qiana brings her wide-ranging experiences in the practical applications of art into her calligraphic explorations. Her calligraphic work interplays with masterful confluences of textures and colours, with decisive, clean lines. Her explorations are clear, bold and disciplined. Qiana’s interpretations of traditional western calligraphy carry hints of her Chinese heritage, as well as her experience with textiles, blending them beautifully in rich tapestry.

Now back in China, Qiana continues to pursue her passion for calligraphy and the arts.

Qiana was part of the Symbiosis II exhibition, working in the mentoring group led by Yukimi Annand with the theme Wearable Calligraphy — Calligraphic Textures. View Qiana’s works in the exhibition gallery, and see how she interpreted the concept of wearable calligraphy and translated her ideas into reality!