You might recognize the name of “Tina Yu” showing up a lot on social media especially in the art community. There are tones of artists such as makeup artists and other talented people who are posting works that claiming inspired by her. But who is she? What is so special about this girl? We will be digging in and find out
Yu is a Chinese raised New York-based sculptor and artist. She was graduated from Pratt Institute in 2016, surprisingly, her major was not sculpture nor anything related to sculpture. “I used to collect Barbies when I was little and growing up I was always fascinated with unique and one-of-a-kind ball-jointed dolls. I never thought I would have the ability to make something like that but I also like to challenge myself. Luckily, instead of failing and giving up, I found a new passion.” She said during an interview with an online magazine. As a professional sculptor, she always uses professional materials. There are two materials she loves to use to build her pieces:
- Aves Apoxie Sculpt
- Fimo Soft Polymer Clay
“I highly recommend using Fimo clay if you are a beginner.” Said by Tina in one of her tutorial videos on Youtube, “I used it a lot during 2016-2017 when I started to create my sculpture, but now I use Apoxie sculpt most of the time because it can save you a lot of time.”
Throughout her works, many of them have an adorable and twisted vibe that combining with fairytale and fantasy elements. Some say that her works are ‘enjoyment of eyes’. But she never satisfied by only being the “eye candy” on social media, later she combing Chinese and Japanese elements such as myths and tales into her works. In her work, she connects with her personal experience and shows the audience a multi-cultural visual feast.
1. 月Yue (the Moon Goddess)
The piece was created in 2017 and inspired by the mid-Autumn (Moon Cake) Festival and the myth about the moon goddess named Chang’e. It’s a custom piece requested by one of her clients.
2. Kainalu
With a Hawaii name, Yu created with this self-eating tail mermaid in 2016, she wrote on her social media that she will not expose the concept of this art piece, instead, she wants her audience to freely discuss because there are no right or wrong answers and appreciating a piece of artwork is purely subjective and beautiful.
3. Goddess Tara
According to the Tibetian myth about Tara, Tibetans usually think of Tara as having 21 manifestations. Of these 21 Taras, the two most popular are Green Tara and White Tara. And Tina’s art was inspired by the white Tara. White Tara is often referred to as the Mother of all the Buddhas. She represents the motherly aspect of compassion. People usually pray to the White Tara for health, healing and longevity.
Right now, Tina Yu already established over eighty-eight thousand followers on her Instagram account (@tina.yu.artist). And she has over 339k subscribers on her Youtube Channel (Tina Yu). She also posts her tutorial on her Patron along with her podcast. Speaking about her future plan, she always being very optimistic, “I know I will figure everything out as I go,” She says.
Amazing!