they / them
Email / cassyaostudio@gmail.com
Instagram / @cass.yao
Based in New York
Statement
Cass Yao (b.1998, China) examines the voluntary act of bodily modification and its proxy in restructuring corporeal identity.
Inquiring into the motive behind the construction of an alternative corporeality—whether driven by medical necessity, lust, dysmorphia, or societal imperatives—Yao reflects on the ethics and the authenticity of volition in the process of bodily modification, navigating the tension within tapestry of the pain, hope, and physical limitation. Their works portray flexuous morphogenetic processes as a response to the incongruence between will and body. Through intricate folds, humid texture, and porous form crafted on the material, they evoke an autonomously regenerating body that emerges from bloodshed—one that is bearing an unseen weight and violence but at same time manifesting a liberating resilience for restoration.
Through sculpture and performance, Yao frames bodily modification as a political act enacted upon the body. In its effort to transition and reform, their works trace into the innate maternity of body —its ability to reproduce new identities and inclinations.
CV
EDUCATION
2023 Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interactive Media Arts, New York University
RESIDENCY
2025 (upcoming) NARS Foundation 2025 Season III, New York
GROUP EXHIBITION
2025 “Corpus”, BRIC House, New York
2024 “Torsos In Rain”, New Uncanny Gallery, New York
2024 “Anchored”, Latitude Gallery, New York
2023 “Name, Place, Animal, Thing”, theBlanc Art Space, New York
2023 “Art Bei Ton x Hybrid Identity”, Zion, New York
2022 “Playhouse”, :iidrr Gallery, New York
2020 “Exiles”, h27 Gallery, Shanghai, China
2019 “Pilot”, Frost Gallery, New York
2019 “Blanc”, World Trade Center Oculus, New York
PERFORMANCE PROJECT
2024 “Surgical Sacrifice v2”, New Uncanny Gallery, New York
2024 group performance, Anarchist Art Festival, New York
2024 “Surgical Sacrifice”, the Compound, Baltimore
2024 "Filthy Spasm", the Sultan Room, New York
2023 “Hyperplasia”, Grace Exhibition Space, New York
2023 “Bryophytes”, Grace Exhibition Space, New York