ARTIST SPOTLIGHT DEBORA KOO
Today we interview emerging artist and educator Debora Koo (b. 1990) who’s series on cakes, love and her use of the color pink we absolutely adore.
I live in Charlotte, North Carolina. This is my third year in this booming city. I truly believe I came to this city at the perfect time. After four years of living in a densely populated and never sleeping city, Charlotte was a good place to start anew. I had an artist residency at Goodyear Arts shortly after I moved and have been making art in my Goodyear Arts studio ever since. We’re in an old factory building and it has the most beautiful musty light that travels through the exposed industrial ceiling.
My father was always supportive of me studying art. He saved and framed all of my drawings since preschool and he is one of the biggest reasons I am where I am today. I never thought I would be a painter. It was a hobby growing up. My older brother was one of my closest friends but also the toughest competitor. I always took art classes with him and he was better than me. As we grew older we found different interests but I picked up art again in college. I took my first oil painting class as a sophomore at Smith College and then continued my studies at Ewha University. Along with Goodyear Arts, I am an artist with Sozo Gallery.
I’ve had shows at LaCa Projects and the Mint Museum, as well as internationally at Delphian Gallery and Unit 1 Gallery in London.
Tell us about your greatest inspirations or influences?
Some of my greatest inspirations and influences go back to the artists I learned from when I first started painting.
Painters Susan Heideman, Katy Schneider and John Gibson taught me to paint light and embrace color. I will always remember Katy Schneider who told me that I didn’t have to look far for inspiration- that I could draw inspiration from mundane objects around me. Other painters I am looking at a lot these days are Josephine Halvorson, Erin Raedeke and Susan Lichtman. Paintings I could never ever get sick of looking at are paintings by Pierre Bonnard, Edouard Vuillard and Edward Hopper.
Other inspirations for my art come from colors, patterns or ideas I am obsessed with at the time or my huge sweet tooth. I am also a shameless photo taker of anything I think is somewhat interesting. It can be a texture, light, pattern, humorous composition or weird interaction. Every month or so I will do a deep clean of my phone’s camera album and reflect upon and use my photography for my paintings.
Most of the work you will see is based on my thoughts about love and romantic relationships and experiences. I was a hopeless romantic for a while. I got married the past summer so I am about to begin a new chapter which I am looking forward to in my art practice!
Tell us a bit about your creative process?
My creative process is like a long diary of mixed thoughts, emotions, obsessions and rants. Sometimes I write my thoughts in an actual journal. Most of these entries are in my head and in my camera album on my phone. When I have gotten a better sense of what I believe it is I want to express, I write down a list with the size, composition and palette scheme and go through each idea on canvas. Most of the time I do not sketch unless it is a collection of images that become one. My paintings can change a lot throughout the process.
How has the pandemic affected your creativity and how do you see the world changing?
The pandemic has forced me to paint all the more. I’ve been able to spend more time in the studio the past year and create work I have been wanting to paint. Since I couldn’t go out to public spaces as much, I found myself going to the studio with less distractions. I believe that the pandemic has also helped me to share my art with more people through social media and I have also been able to be exposed to painters and paintings. This has really opened my eyes.
I am stunned by the amount of creative work that is out there. I have been working towards finding a balance of being inspired and not comparing myself to others and to push myself even more to find and express a genuine voice.
The pandemic also encouraged me to take long morning walks every day. I take walks every day in my neighborhood or the city and this has helped me to process thoughts, rest my brain, burn restless energy or frustrations and altogether gain focus and energy for what I will face in the studio that day.
What does wellbeing mean to you, and what do you practice?
At this moment in time, wellbeing is being okay with taking a break to breath in and reflect upon the work I have done the past year. I am excited for the next body of work that I hope to create in 2022 with the emotions, thoughts and experiences that I gained in 2021. Other than taking some time to rest before painting again, I am okay with going to a studio and allowing myself to make mistakes or stop painting a painting that eventually is not in line with the vision I had at the beginning. I let the painting sit on the side and start a new painting. I will allow myself to make many bad or failed paintings.
Eventually, I know I will find what I am trying to express.
