Fina Yeung

I’m Fina Yeung, aka Fina the Cardboard Lady. For more than 25 years, I’ve been making art, exploring the connection between people, places, memories, nature and the everyday things we often overlook. I see possibility in unexpected places.

Cardboard has become an important part of my artistic language. I collect discarded cardboard and transform it through painting, drawing, sculpture and wearable art. I don’t try to hide the material’s history. I let the corrugation, edges, layers and imperfections become part of the artwork.

My work is inspired by cities, nature, people, animals, architecture, memory and the stories held inside everyday materials. Living in New York has given me an endless landscape to explore—its buildings, streets, bridges, neighborhoods, movement and contradictions.

I am interested in the spaces between things:

home and city
nature and architecture
beauty and imperfection
memory and reality
discarded and treasured

Through my art, I transform these observations into something personal, handmade and full of character.

I believe making art takes time.

I draw by hand.
I paint by hand.
I build by hand.

Whether I am creating a cardboard sculpture, painting a cityscape or drawing a beloved pet, I enjoy the slow process of observing, layering, blending and discovering.

For me, slow art is a way to calm the mind, follow the hand and reconnect with ourselves—and with one another.

• Alexandria Museum of Art, LA
• The Clemente Soto Velez Cultural & Educational Center, NY, NY
• Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning, Jamaica, NY
• Van Der Plas Gallery, NY, NY
• Plaxall Gallery, LIC,NY
• The Oculus, World Trade Center, NY, NY
• COCO-Mat USA, NY, NY
• Art on the Ave, NY, NY
• Local Project, LIC, NY
• Flushing Town Hall, Queens, NY
• IA&A at Hillyer, DC
• Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition, Brooklyn, NY
• Walls-Oritz Gallery and Center, NY, NY
• Rutgers University, NJ