Currently in her fourth year pursuing a B.F.A. in Fine Arts with a minor in Sustainable Cities at Parsons School of Design, Yu is an emerging artist exploring the intersection of art, sustainability, and social issues. Her practice focuses on kinetic sculptures, drawing inspiration from critiques of mechanistic urban environments and nuanced ecofeminist and sustainability discourses. These influences inspire her to create works that challenge traditional hierarchies between function and ornament, rigidity and softness, and motion and stillness.

Woodturning lies at the core of Yu’s practice.There’s something uniquely intimate about the connection she feels with wood during the turning process—it requires complete presence, a dialogue with the material itself. Instead of aiming to create identical pieces, Yu approaches each session on the lathe with openness, putting the wood on and seeing where it takes her. This hands-on, experimental approach rejects rigid standardization, allowing small regions of confusion to foster personal expression and unexpected outcomes. The process gives rise to hybrid forms and structures, reflecting her interest in the dynamic balance between control and organic spontaneity. For Yu, shaping wood is both a method and a metaphor, symbolizing the tensions between surrender and control, structure and natural fluidity.

A central theme in her practice examines the often-invisible labor of care, disproportionately performed by women and frequently overlooked in discussions of ecological and social justice. Her sculptures spark conversations about this undervalued work, highlighting the connections between caregiving, environmental responsibility, and communal belonging.

Yu’s work bridges material and conceptual boundaries, positioning sculpture not merely as an object but as an act—a dialogue between maker and material, space and body. By integrating sustainability, urbanism, and the ethics of care, her practice fosters critical conversations about how we live, create, and care within shared spaces.