ava m. hu
Photography by Tyler Oliver
Ava M. Hu is a poet and artist who hails from New York City, the Gulf coast of Florida, to the land of enchantment in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, Bennington College, and The New School where she got her MFA in Poetry.
She is inspired by mentors: Best American Poetry Editor David Lehman, poet Kimiko Hahn, sculptor Ron Baron, master healer Guru Dev Singh, and Jivamukti Founder and Activist Sharon Gannon.
Self- taught on the art of clothing surface design, and manufacturing, she founded avaloveshop.com 20 years ago on the streets of Soho in NYC and eventually opened a flagship store in Artists + Fleas Chelsea Market from 2011-2020.
Penelope Cruz wore avalove as one of People Magazine's Best Dressed, and her work has also appeared in Cosmopolitan Magazine, CosmoGIRL! magazine, and Time Out New York.
Patti Smith, Jennifer Hudson and Matt Dylan have worn avalove, and avalove has also made numerous TV appearances, from the superhero series Jessica Jones to the feature film Inception. She was also interviewed by CBS News.
She has won numerous awards for her poetry, most notably Poet's and Writers Amy Award. She has worked with Tupelo Press on their 30 poems in 30 days project for one month a year for 10 years and counting! In 2025 she was selected as a judge in the Scholastic Writing and Arts Awards.
She has shown her work in the Mayan's Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Chelsea Market, NYC, Rabbit Hole, Dumbo, Bushwick Arts and created and curated THE NESTING PROJECT at Jivamukti Yoga NYC.
She also founded The Enlightenment Projects encompassing all of her creative projects for 10 years, often focusing on collaborations with other multi-media artists.
Her favorite installations:
+GANESH MANTRA +Crystal bowls in a TIPI on the East River, NYC
+TEMPLE, an installation of healers from many different modalities who came together weekly in NYC to donate services to those in need
+ The Little Boat Diary and Holy, Live. which worked on during Covid's lockdown in 2020.
+The Floating World, a poetic conversation with photographer Josh Axelrod.
Ava is also trained in Kundalini Yoga, Jivamukti Yoga where she was awarded a scholarship to study by Russell Simmons, and Sat Nam Rasayan, a yogic healing modality which she has practiced since 1997.