Yuko Oda teaches in the Art and Design Department at the University of Massachusetts Lowell specializing in Sculpture, Expanded Media, and 3D.
Her artwork has been exhibited at SIGGRAPH Asia 2016 (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’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 has had artist residencies at the Vermont Studio Center, Chashama North Residency, Goetemann Residency, and Byrdcliffe Artist Residency.
Nora Toure: Yuko, could you let us know about your background and what brought you to 3D printing in the first place?
Yuko Oda: I was formally trained in Fine Arts. Since receiving my MFA in Sculpture from RISD in 2002, I have been a visual artist and educator to college and graduate students.
When teaching digital applications, I developed a passion for 3D modeling using Autodesk Maya. Out of all the digital software out there, Autodesk Maya was the most sculptural and versatile for me, and I fell in love with it. Which naturally led me to 3D printing.
In 1998-2008, I created a series of installation artworks called “Alternate Nature” using found objects and biodegradable plastics in formations that mimicked nature. Simultaneously, I was developing as a 3D modeler and animator using Autodesk Maya. I taught 3D modeling as a professor at Albright College and New York Institute of Technology for 15 years, and in 2006 I started 3D printing my models using Stratasys printers.
It was a natural progression for me to create installations with my 3D printed sculptures, and this hybrid is the basis of my recent body of work. I find I am still creating an “Alternate Nature” in my work, with synthetic 3d printed pieces juxtaposed with organic materials such as wood, soil, and rocks.
Currently, I am an artist and educator currently teaching in the Art & Design Department at the University of Massachusetts Lowell specializing in 3D and Expanded Media, and I teach and run workshops in 3D fabrication techniques.
Nora Toure: What was your very first experience with 3D Printing?
Yuko Oda: I taught 3D modeling as a professor at the New York Institute of Technology for 11 years, where I first started 3D printed my models using Stratasys 3D printer in 2006.
Read the Rest at Women in 3D Printing
Elizabeth C. Engele (Lizzy) is a designer for social good, and a founder of MakerGirl.