Nichi Bei Times Article

‘Relations that Suck’
A Picture Book for Fashionistas
by April Elkjer

Eva has only one little black dress…that might only seem unusual because she is a vampire but still Coco Chanel would most likely approve.

This fashionably dressed vampire with a penchant for creativity, Catholic guilt and human sympathy – who meets a dark handsome arachnid – is the creation of Marilyn Yu in the form of a book called “Relations that Suck: The Story of Eva and Dries.”

“Her wardrobe is mainly evening wear as she is not out during the day…” said Yu. And she is shod in an eclectic-style from many different time periods to reflect her age and deep, jewel-like colors that support her lounge singing nightlife.

Yu is a clothing designer and artist who has a varied background with a bachelor’s degree of fine arts in sculpture from the Rhode Island School of Design and a master’s in city and regional planning from UC Berkeley. Before turning author she ran her own sustainable and award-winning clothing design company called Plutonium Clothing, creating outfits, wedding dresses and theatrical costumes.

With “Relations that Suck” she has created a fine weave, with fashion, fine art and publishing in a gorgeously dark picture book with beautiful theatrical clothing.

“To me the characters are kind of like mythological characters and I’m really interested in the whole idea of mythologies and belief systems and how people incorporate that in their lives.”

Both creatures suck their prey and both spin. In this case one is stuck in the past and the other lives only in the future. How they approach living and each other is part of the tragedy that is told with thirty-five dramatic photographs.

“The vampire doesn’t like being a vampire,” said Yu. “She feels very bad about killing people. She’s actually Catholic. And so she wants to be creative to convince herself that she’s not a destructive vampire when she actually is.”

As for Dries the spider’s character, Yu explained that “… historically, especially in North America the spider mythology is about the spiders being the creators, caretakers of the world and the human race. Dries had some tragedies in his childhood and no longer wants to fulfill that role so instead he goes to travel. He lives in the future and looks for the next thing.”

On the scientific-side, Yu even consulted entomologist (people who study insects) in conducting research.

The creative team included photography by DeCenzo+Cordova, jewelry by Viv&Ingrid, eye candy models, skilled hair and make-up artists and clothing design by Yu. Oakland artist Stephani Martinez’s doilies and spider webs are highlighted as the work of Eva’s penance.

For more information on “Relations that Suck: The Story of Eva and Dries,” view the Website at www.marilynyu.com.

Nichi Bei Times, April 2-8, 2009 Entertainment+Arts