Suyu Chen, a contemporary jewelry artist and educator originally from southern China, is now based in Rochester, New York, United States. She earned her MFA from Rochester Institute of Technology, where she currently teaches as adjunct faculty. Chen also holds a BA from the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts in China, and studied at the Rhode Island School of Design in the United States and the Kunstuniversität Linz in Austria. Her work explores the intersection of traditional metalsmithing and unconventional materials, often combining plastic, found objects, and precious metals to challenge the boundaries of jewelry as both adornment and cultural objects.

Chen’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Beijing, Barcelona, and Brussels. Through her teaching and studio practice, she explores dialogues in contemporary jewelry through her personal experience as a migrant and the joy of material experimentation.

Suyu Chen’s practice moves between traditional metalsmithing and the common objects of everyday life, such as plastic items and other found objects. Her work often questions how value, memory, and belonging are created and transformed. The daily objects carry memory and labor cast inside. Her current project, ‘Playground’, is using second-hand toys as a medium to reflect globalism and the unseen hands shaping craft industries. As a carrier of imagination, objects like toys are mass-produced as well as discarded easily. By collecting and reassembling them, the transformation becomes a way to honor unseen makers while inviting viewers to think about the consumption and care.