Welcome to the official portfolio site for artist Xexilia O. Shadows, a creative who works in fields from webcomics (Eternity Concepts, Your Genitals are Out to Kill You, Satan! The Friendly Goat, and The World’s Most Popular Manga), to being published internationally (Paranormal Magazine UK), to licensed tattooing.
First discovered and featured in the VFMA in 1991 for winning the Virginia Youth Art award at age 5, making her the youngest winner in the entire state. This was of great disappointment to her parents, who had, a year earlier, told Xexilia she “couldn’t” be an artist. Being a four year old with not yet diagnosed OCD, and followed by the award, she decided she was on the right career path.
She has gone on to launch and maintain a retro manga web comic on-going for over 25 years that she began in 1999, become a published author in nonfiction in the paranormal, and now resides as a gallery artist. She has a graphic novel on Amazon, and sells originals, prints, and occasionally accepts commissions for art, writing, web design, logos, tattoos, paintings, and even private tutoring.
Examples of Photography, Model?
While having worked with more than her fair share of film to SLR to digital to digital SLR cameras. . .Xexilia’s photography is not something she shows, as she primarily only photographs during special events or moments. She has, in fact, never shown any photography online of her own work.
However, Xexilia was an alternative model who worked with a single photographer because of how much she liked the work. She is no longer signed with an agency and is still contacted for photography purposes, specifically modeling, or by people requesting to use Xexilia’s likeness in various types of visual media. These are all reviewed and approved on a case by case basis, and very few are ever approved, to date, only once. . .for these photos.
However, the photographer was not Xexilia and while she legally owns the photos, she has barely ever shared or shown them online. She has no reason why except the attention these photos could sometimes command was not in regards for the photos as art pieces, and caused her to receive a great deal of personal photos taken of and by the people contacting her. While she acknowledges that she’s sure this was not intended to be malicious, it did cause her to become much more shy, along with questioning the motives of others in a way and about real intentions that she never needed to before.
Most importantly, search engines keep pulling up her portfolio when people are looking for things related to photography. . .and began creating fake results of pages for the portfolio that do not exist. In an attempt to stop it, the original URL that a search engine faked, and continued to, was created to inform people that they had been misled by the search engine they used.
Much to the dismay of the web master (It’s just Xexilia who has to write this awkwardly all in third person) some search engine just invented another URL for a page and topic entirely unrelated to Xexilia, her art, etc.
An Artist Without a Pause
Her parents have eventually become only slightly disappointed, with her father acknowledging her skill and accomplishments just a few years later in 2025. To quote:
“Yeah, but I was just playing around with art. You took it seriously.”
Xexilia’s Father, 2025, age 90
“I remember when all you drew was that anime stuff.”
Xexilia’s father, 2025, age 90, at an juried art exhibition opening Xexilia’s work is in, in her resident studio.“Dad, I still do. That’s what this is.”
Xexilia, Artist/Author/Creative, in a studio surrounded by full sized illustrations for Eternity Concepts.
Her mother, currently age 79, and a retired Navy and National Guard Staff Sargent Complete and recipient of a Bronze Star, remains unimpressed, refusing to believe Xexilia would ever show work again. Even when she began to be sought after and continue to show, her mother ignores this to this day and refuses to even discuss it.
Xexilia comes from families where creative pursuits appeared genetic and to favor manifesting in females, with occasional exception, such as a great uncle in Ukraine who was well known*. Her own mother before abandoning them and blaming this on having had children, specifically Xexilia herself. While unaware of it, almost all of her family members on both sides pursued writing, especially her American–or Father’s–side. Xexilia’s mother was a journalist in the Navy, and continued to write, secretly writing unfinished novels. While her art was ignored and discouraged, Xexilia rarely shared her writing with her family, nor did they share theirs, or mention it, to her. When published in Paranormal UK magazine, both sides of her family were shocked. She sent them the article, which included her name and photo; Her mother asked if Xexilia had “really” written the article, despite being involved in doing some research by providing transportation. When confirmed it was her own writing in entirety, this was the only time her mother admitted she was impressed with the piece, to quote:
“. . .It was really good.”
Xexilia’s Mother, 2009(?), Spoken barely above a whisper and in complete privacy with no witnesses present, and significant to Xexilia; Her mother’s first and so far only compliment given to her, not just regarding creative pursuits, but the first ever, and as of 2026, only.
