My lantern design pays tribute to the remarkable adaptability of snakes. These creatures embody the ability to shift and transform, seamlessly fitting into and flexing with the spaces they inhabit. This dynamic nature symbolizes thriving and growing in ever-changing environments, celebrating this transformative strength, resilience, and how adaptability allows for growth.
Priscilla Yu is an artist, illustrator, and muralist based in Vancouver, BC, Canada, on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. Her work draws inspiration from the intricate patterns found in all cultures—through textiles, design, and architecture—as well as nature’s universal patterns, spanning the everyday observable to the micro and macro scales. Using abstracted perspectives and a stylistically geometric language developed over fifteen years of her practice, she creates worlds that dwell in a strange gravity.
Since earning her BFA from Emily Carr University in 2013, Priscilla has showcased her work in Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle. She has painted murals at international mural festivals including the Vancouver Mural Festival (Vancouver, BC), DC Walls (Washington, DC), HK Walls (Hong Kong), Wide Open Walls Sacramento, CA, Fresh West Murals (Kelowna, BC), Wall-to-Wall Festival (Winnipeg, MB), and Blairs Festival (Maryland, MD).
The Lantern City is grateful to be held on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam Indian Band), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish Nation), and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation). We acknowledge our privilege to be gathered on this land, and commit to work with and be respectful to the Indigenous peoples whose arts and stories inspire us to bring communities together.
