The works in this recent show ranged from the huge acrylic-on-canvas Molten Lava III (1996)—12 by 18 feet in size—to the 10 small acrylic-on-paper pieces of the 1997 “Molten Lava Park” series.  Yu fills her compositions with striking abstract effects: areas that look like a watercolor wash, eccentric ovoid shapes, patches of red that appear to rush at the viewer.  Her pleasure in these gestures is communicated by the way she allows them to spill every which way over the paper or canvas.  At the same time, there’s never much doubt about Yu’s penchant for describing the natural world. 

In Molten Lava III, a massive swath of brown with patches of rust and gray, occupies the work’s center; it looks like a huge cliff or promontory.  At its top and bottom are areas of frothy white, next to which are touches of deep red alluding to intense volcanic heat.  The colors are subtly modulated, with effects close to gouache or watercolor, yet the textures and color relationships are made striking by the force of the painting’s enveloping scale. 

In Bubbling Lava (1996), a large acrylic on canvas, white bubbles float up to the surface from a red ground.  A bit of orange-yellow at center is the painting’s visual core.  While Yu’s impressionistic rendition of a geological event is geologically accurate, the work is also an abstract emotional statement.