Yu Rong: Specific Yet Universal

The world of design has expanded through the years, making big leaps between the eras. Design is an art form that allows for the unique, the eccentric, and the original to flourish. The beauty of the design is that it has limited boundaries and includes the disciplines of art, sculpture, architecture,  and so much more. Yu Rong is one of New York’s most eccentric and exciting artists who is infusing her signature style and design in the New York art world. 

Yu Rong is an exceptional NYC-based artist who has achieved the ability to make niche designs in the form of wine goblets. Designing wine goblets is extremely rare due to the artisanal nature of this art form. It requires a strong understanding of traditional design, medieval history, and glass blowing. Rong is unique as she has chosen to focus her work on creating and designing objects which are both aesthetically interesting and practically usable. Rong has achieved the sense of  universalism in her designs. The ability to tailor-fit a design to functionality while being artistic is part of Rong’s expertise. Rong has been recognized for her expertise at Milan Design Week in  2016 and 2017, followed by her participation in Prague Design Week in 2017. She also displayed her work at the 2019 London Design Fair. Her exhibitions were remarkably successful, enabling her to re-design an entire collection of wine goblets, with many concepts in mind such as touching,  stretching, kissing. 

Prior to designing goblets, Rong designed toys at the Lighthouse International Project, an organization serving 1,000 children and youth from preschool-12th grade. , she designed toys for children with similar sight issues.  

Furthermore, she also retouched images as part of her experience with Savor: Keepsake Storage  Reinvented, a unique furniture design company with almost 40K followers on Instagram, which was featured in Martha Stewart Weddings, Home Beautiful, Real Simple & Allure.

The above experiences speak to Rong’s multidimensional understanding of the visual arts and her expertise in pottery wheel throwing, glass blowing, jade cutting, woodworking, metalworking, and enameling, all assisting her in understanding the execution process of her designs. 

Rong, a unique artist, was sought after by Patrik Ervell, a fashion design company featured at  Milano Fashion Week. She was responsible for design management, development, sampling, and production. Again this speaks to Rong’s sensibilities of merging the functionality and design.  

It is Yu Rong’s unique yet necessary ability to be intimate with such concepts that further connect her to a universal audience. Many emotions are enhanced when it comes to viewing art. But art is not limited to framed paintings. The artistic expression is audible, visible, and tangible in an object,  such as the wine goblet. Another interesting aspect of Rong’s work is the bit of emotional experience a person has with the art object once they use it. Her work is not only artistically accessible for view, but also for use as well. This is one of the main elements in her work that have guaranteed her success; the distinct ability to be specific, yet universal.