An artist with a strong message: Bachelor of fine arts and honors graduate Luecy Xiong

A tradition rooted in the Hmong people, the hand-embroidered textiles depict pictorial narratives of cultural history and daily life. Story cloths illustrate life in their village and farming, fleeing the Secret War, resettling in Thai refugee camps and ultimately the journey to America.

“My mother taught me the stitching method, just one basic stitch. While watching her, I was amazed at how fast and skilled she was, doing many types of decorative stitches,” Xiong says.

“I was getting so confused, struggling to do one stitch at a time. Then it suddenly occurred to me that my mother learned to sew as a young child in Vietnam, contributing to the income for the family. It helped me to appreciate the art of it even more, as well as the whole meaning behind the story cloth tradition.”

Xiong says it was difficult to stitch the whole cloth, but she “kept trucking through.” Xiong says completing it, along with another significant illustration piece for the BFA show, is a source of deep pride in her art and in her heritage.

A college choice to meet her varied interests

Xiong, a native of Sheboygan, says she researched illustration programs in the state and decided that UW-Eau Claire had an excellent program, was a good distance from home and the opportunities outside of her major were very appealing.

“I’m a first-generation college student, and before coming to Eau Claire, I learned about the office of Student Support Services where I would find extra resources and support as someone without family members helping me learn how college works,” Xiong says.

Xiong also learned early on about the Mark Stephen Cosby Honors College and knew that she would also take advantage of that opportunity.

“I enrolled in honors freshman year, and I’m so glad that I did,” Xiong says. “The opportunity to take part in the topical courses in honors with an emphasis on discussion is amazing, especially in classes with students from all different majors. Discussing big topics is so much more useful when everyone has a different background and brings a unique perspective.”

Dr. Heather Fielding, director of the Cosby Honors College, says that Xiong is “wise beyond her years,” a student who made the honors experience better for everyone.

“Luecy is a deep thinker, the kind of person who takes class conversations seriously and thinks through a subject from many different angles at once,” Fielding says.

“I first noticed this about her in an honors course on art and literature in New Mexico that she took as a first-year student — there was really a kind of wisdom about her. In the years since then, it’s been a joy to see her artistic vision and her intellectual interests grow and develop,” she says.

Fielding adds that on an art immersion in New Mexico, Xiong was sure to share her artistic sensitivities with the whole group, even when she was feeling unwell.

“On the New Mexico immersion in 2023, Luecy persevered through severe altitude sickness to dive into New Mexican art and culture and to help her peers develop their aesthetic sense,” Fielding says.

Capping off her art education with the BFA show

Xiong and thirteen other graduating seniors have their BFA exhibition on display now in the Foster Gallery of the Haas Fine Arts Center, open for viewing through May 10.

Xiong’s pieces are multimedia in nature, and her exhibit is meant to depict a domestic home scene. Her art, and her process of designing and creating it, is also the topic of her honors thesis.

“My thesis describes the art and how the two pieces came to be, but it also served as a way to directly address my personal experiences growing up as a Hmong American,” Xiong says.

“Creating the art was emotional, and I was able to process those emotions in writing the thesis. I talk about some feelings I’ve carried around my whole life,” Xiong says.

Jyl Kelley, professor of art & design, has been Xiong’s faculty advisor and says it has been a joy watching Xiong’s growth over the last four years “as an artist and as a person.”

“While Luecy has a quiet and gentle demeanor, her visual voice is powerful,” Kelley says.

“Luecy understands how to communicate meaning through image and material with great impact and confidence — there is a real strength in her work that often surprises people, much like a lion beneath a calm exterior.”

After graduating, Xiong is open to a wide range of art-related careers, stopping short of defining a certain lane just yet. Beyond illustration, she says she has enjoyed projects in many areas like graphics, marketing and campaign design.

“Creating for a client is whole different thing, but I am open to that. I’m still figuring it all out,” Xiong says. “The world feels like an uncertain place right now, but I know I want to continue creating art as a means to share stories.”

As Xiong describes her story cloth and the loose trailing thread on the lower edge, “My story doesn’t stop here — it will continue somewhere else. I’m OK not knowing where that is yet.”