Yuko Oda

Research Interests

Professor Oda specializes in the area of 3D/Sculpture in the Art and Design Department, and the intersection of Fine Art and Technology. Her research includes 3D fabrication techniques including traditional sculpture, as well as digital 3D modeling, animation, printing, scanning, Virtual Reality 3D sculpting, and motion capture.

1. Exploring the intersection of technology with fine art, often bringing together their methodologies in one artwork, such as installing digital sculpture with organic materials such as soil.
2. Investigating new aesthetics and processes in art-making by exploring the hybridization of traditional art-making with unconventional or unexpected material choices and approaches.
3. Observing natural forms and biological systems in conjunction with their cultural symbolism, mythology, and folklore.

Education

• MFA: Sculpture, (2002), Rhode Island School of Design - Providence, RI
• BA: Double Major in Studio Art and Philosophy, (1997), Duke University - Durham, NC

Biosketch

Prior to joining UMass Lowell, Oda was an associate professor in the Department of Digital Art and Design at the New York Institute of Technology. Her artwork has been exhibited at SIGGRAPH Asia 2016 (Macao), Dumbo Arts Festival (NY), Cavin 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's animation, "Take Off" was a finalist in the international animation competition “Artport: Cool Stories for When the Planet Gets Hot,” and screened internationally at 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, Goetemann Residency, and Byrdcliffe Artist Residency.

Selected Awards and Honors

Selected Artistic and Professional Performances and Exhibits

• "The Heaviness and Lightness of Being," Solo Exhibition, Invitational (Hammond Hall Art Gallery, Fitchburg State University), Fitchburg, MA
• "Becoming," Associate Member Inaugural Group Exhibition, Juried (Boston Sculptors Gallery), Boston, MA
• "Personal Ecologies" Non-Academic - National, Art - Exhibition, Invitational (Massachusetts Convention Center Authority) - Boston, MA
• "The History of the Future" Non-Academic - National, Art - Exhibition, Group (Boston Cyberarts Gallery) - Boston, MA
• "Stronger Together" Academic - National, Art - Exhibition, Group (Creative Tech Week) - New York, NY
• SIGGRAPH Asia Mediated Aesthetics Exhibition, "Unbearable Lightness and Heaviness of Being" Academic - International, Art - Art Works in Publication - Yuko Oda (New York Institute of Technology) - Macau, China
• "Flying" Non-Academic - International, Art - Arts Festival (Dumbo Arts Festival) - Brooklyn, NY, USA

Selected Contracts, Fellowships, Grants and Sponsored Research

Transformational Education Grant: Acquired motion capture technology with the Perception Neuron Suit and Facialrig Software, UMass Lowell, 2018

50/50 Mentoring Grant: Invited Associate Professor Michael Smith (NYIT) to UMass Lowell, followed by travel and research of VR and 3D printing at the NYIT Biomedical Innovation Center, 2019