ARTIST SPOTLIGHT DEBORA KOO
She entered college as a government major. She pivoted. She painted cakes. She married. She processes every bit of it on long morning walks through Charlotte — and eventually, on canvas.
"I didn't have to look far for inspiration. I could draw from the mundane objects around me." A lesson that became Debora Koo's entire practice.
She entered college as a government major. One drawing class with Professor Jane Lund changed everything. Now she paints cakes and love stories in an old factory building flooded with what she calls "the most beautiful musty light."
Debora Koo grew up relegating art to the margins of her life — a hobby, not a calling. At Smith College she declared government, then economics, then history, then English. Then Professor Jane Lund. One drawing class and art came back forcefully, branching into sculpture, graphic design, digital art, and finally oil painting. She hasn't stopped since.
She studied further at Ewha University, moved to Charlotte three years ago, and found her footing quickly — an artist residency at Goodyear Arts shortly after arriving, a studio in an old factory building with industrial ceilings and beautiful imperfect light. She is an artist with Sozo Gallery and has exhibited at LaCa Projects, the Mint Museum, and internationally at Delphian Gallery and Unit 1 Gallery in London.
Her subjects — cakes, love letters, pink, romance, the domestic and the tender — are deeply personal. Most of the work is based on thoughts about love and romantic relationships. She was a hopeless romantic for a while. She got married last summer. A new chapter is beginning.
"I will allow myself to make many bad or failed paintings. Eventually, I know I will find what I am trying to express."
Tell us about your greatest inspirations or influences.
Some of my greatest inspirations go back to the artists I learned from when I first started painting. 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 inspirations come from colors, patterns or ideas I'm obsessed with at the time — or my huge sweet tooth. I am also a shameless photo taker of anything I think is somewhat interesting. Every month or so I do a deep clean of my phone's camera album and use my photography for my paintings.
Tell us a bit about your creative process.
When I have gotten a better sense of what I want to express, I write down a list with the size, composition and palette scheme. Most of the time I do not sketch unless it's a collection of images that become one. My paintings can change a lot throughout the process.
Most of the work you will see is based on my thoughts about love and romantic relationships. I was a hopeless romantic for a while. I got married last summer — so I am about to begin a new chapter, which I am very much looking forward to in my art practice.
How has the pandemic affected your creativity?
The pandemic forced me to paint all the more. I've been able to spend more time in the studio and create work I had been wanting to paint. Since I couldn't go out as much, I found myself going to the studio with fewer distractions.
The pandemic also encouraged me to take long morning walks every day. I take walks in my neighbourhood or the city and this has helped me to process thoughts, rest my brain, burn restless energy or frustrations, and 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 breathe in and reflect upon the work I have done. It's also being okay with going to the studio and allowing myself to make mistakes — or stop painting a painting that is not in line with the vision I had at the beginning. I let the painting sit on the side and start a new one.
I will allow myself to make many bad or failed paintings. Eventually, I know I will find what I am trying to express.
Koo's studio is in an old factory building at Goodyear Arts — and she describes it with the fondness of someone who found exactly the right space at exactly the right moment. "The most beautiful musty light that travels through the exposed industrial ceiling."
She arrived in Charlotte three years ago after four years in a densely populated, never-sleeping city. The change of pace was deliberate. An artist residency at Goodyear Arts followed almost immediately — and she has been working there ever since.
If she could give her younger self one piece of advice: explore more mediums. She regrets not trying sculpture, mixed media, and video more seriously in college — and brings that restlessness into her current practice.
"I would encourage myself to explore more mediums and ways of artmaking. One thing I regret today is not incorporating more sculpture, mixed media, and video with my paintings in college."
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