Artist Statement
My art practice is at the intersection of science, technology, and empathy. I imagine being an animal, an insect, or a plant, and how I would adapt and transform to survive. The results are diverse, ranging from DNA variations, migration, and herding, to interconnection of species.
The beauty of nature inspires me, but I feel troubled because it is threatened by drastic pollution, endangering many inhabitants and driving others to extinction.” Our ground, air, and water are entangled with human byproducts. And yet nature persists, human existence a blip in the history of the universe. My practice responds to this very moment, when nature and man coexist on the precipice of a downfall.
My process and material choices also embody this entanglement of nature and synthetics. Recent examples include collaging iridescent plastic to handmade Japanese paper painted delicately with Japanese mineral pigments, creating compositions of works on paper using 3D high-end software, and fusing hand-carved wood with 3D printed resin. I strive to keep alive the ancient methods of traditional art-making by honing in on the craft and techniques, and simultaneously defy tradition and rules with unexpected material choices and methods, connecting the past to the present and future.
Bio
Yuko Oda’s artwork has been exhibited at SIGGRAPH Asia (Macao), Dumbo Arts Festival (NY), Calvin-Morris Gallery (NY), Beijing Today Art Museum, Maki Fine Arts (Tokyo), Annemarie Sculpture Garden and Art Center (MD), the Rhode Island School of Design Museum, among others. Oda was a recipient of the Goetemann Artist Residency fellowship in 2015. Oda’s animation, “Take Off” was a finalist in the international animation competition “Artport: Cool Stories for When the Planet Gets Hot”, and screened internationally, including the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York, DIA Center (NY), Art Supermarket (Stockholm), Art Miami Basel (FL), Bridge Art Fair (NY), Diva Art Fair (Paris) and Scope Art Fair (Basel/NY). Oda was an artist resident at the Vermont Studio Center, Chashama North Residency, Goetemann Residency, and Byrdcliffe Artist Residency.
Oda obtained a Master of Fine Arts degree from Rhode Island School of Design and a Bachelor of Arts from Duke University. After living and working as an artist and educator in New York for 15 years, Oda moved to Boston in 2017. She currently teaches in the Art and Design Department at University of Massachusetts Lowell.