Artist Interview with Soyeon Cho: Moments in Suspension
By Isabella Chalfant
The Moment, 2022
“Enjoy the moment” is a common saying, but to enjoy a moment, one must appreciate every aspect. Even a simple moment has chaos, vibrancy, calm, and even things hidden from view. Soyeon Cho, a new artist with the gallery, exemplifies this scenario as she suspends a single moment of time in the air and includes all its perfections and all of its flaws. Organic and geometric forms collide, constructed from dynamically colored wire, they spill forth from a golden birdcage. Found objects and vivaciously blue glass bring a touch of nostalgia to the ensemble. Mirrors attached to the birdcage reflect the time and space around “The Moment” allowing the outside world into this microcosm of reality. This installation piece is only a small part of Soyeon’s body of work. Whereas “The Moment” takes up only a small amount of space, most of her installations explode from an entire gallery, engulfing the viewer in the artist’s perception of the world.
The Dream, 2011
Soyeon Cho is an artist, originally from South Korea, who has shown work all over the world. Her training as a professional artist began in Seoul before she trained in New York. She currently resides in Toronto, Canada. This interview will delve into her vision as an artist, her process, and much of her inspiration.
When asked what her vision as an artist is, Soyeon Cho responded with,” The difficulties and challenges I have faced in my life have always been accompanied by my creativity as a means of soothing my soul. Consequently, positives emerged out of my negative judgment and brought me to a place of true acceptance. My art has become a tool to communicate my innermost thoughts and emotions with my audience. Personally, art has created obstacles, however, it also has created healing for my wounded ego.”
She also replied in kind to the question of what inspired her to start creating art, stating,” My desire is to understand others, but to begin, I must be honest with myself. This is the first step in creating. Art allows me to explain my true self easily and freely.” The work that artists create, whether they be painter, sculptures, writers, etc. is a reflection of themselves. Viewing art is the closest one comes to seeing into the mind of another person.
As an installation artist, much of her work is rather dependent on the space she will be exhibiting in. However, despite this, the inspiration and material collections begin long before she even knows she will be showing in a space. She expressed this by saying,” My daily life sparks curiosity through observation, no matter how mundane. Ideas then become springboards and material collection begins. Once I have the specific opportunity for a show, I assemble and
organize an idea into a site-specific installation. A one-of-a-kind piece of art is then created specifically for that time and space. “
Given how extensive her installations are and just how big they can become, the question of how long it takes her to create a piece was asked. She replied,” Creation time depends on how long I am given. My training as a professional artist in Seoul, South Korea followed by my extensive time in New York, taught me to complete a project regardless of a day, a week, or a month deadline. Once I have an idea for a piece, which is often the hardest part, creating the physical work itself seems to be the easier task. My extensive experience allows me to always find a solution for my creation to come alive.”
Without Doubt, 2009
Soyeon’s work consists of many different components, she takes mixed media to a whole new level. Many of her pieces contain a lot of found objects or even everyday objects that aren’t seen as art or even expected to be used in prestigious works. The next question asked pertained to how her various mediums spoke to her as an artist. She responded,” I believe that my intuition is better than applying logic towards understanding people, the world and my vision of society. My spiritual and intuitive character responds through a tactile object. Physical contact with objects generates my thought process and constructing physical objects helps me express my ideas. I am also passionate about switching and twisting the functions of social standards in everyday materials. My preference is to choose disposable materials for two reasons: Firstly, my personal experience as a foreigner and immigrant made me feel unimportant and not valued. I could therefore identify with the disposable materials such as clear plastic tape, plastic
forks, Q-tips and how these were just viewed as useful but mostly ignored and thrown out. The second reason is more simple. In the beginning I was not able to buy my usual art materials, such as wood or metal that I was used to in Korea. However, I could buy disposable everyday materials in a dollar store. These materials became fascinating to me, objects were viewed purely through their utility, not through any intrinsic value.” She later expresses that since she has grown as an artist, she has become more aware that using plastic, a very common everyday material, is problematic. She hopes that by using plastic as a material, she can help her audience re-evaluate their dependency on the material. This perspective creates another facet in her most recent works as the issue of plastic has become more prominent in the world.
The last question asked was, what she hopes the viewer will interpret from her art and she answered,” I hope that by seeing my art, the audience is able to dream once again as a child. My hope is that they will see each other and the world around them without prejudice and undue expectations. I want to give them color, joy, and playfulness amidst the struggles of daily life. Through my work, I wish for them to recall that they are unique, full of imagination, and able to find joy in their true self.”
The art created by Soyeon Cho reaches into the depths of her viewers to bring them back to who they are and how to be true to themselves. She herself stated that she must be true to herself when creating her pieces and she hopes that her vision will bring to life the imagination of her audience. The suspension of moments, frozen in time by her technique and her perspective on life lends itself to seeing the world for everything that it is. One’s true self and the world's true self bring with it beauty, color, imagination and even chaos. There is perfection in chaos and chaos in perfection. Her art inspires its audience to see the world in its true form “without prejudice or undue expectations.”