q+a: debora koo

Tchotchke Gallery: Can you tell us a bit more about how you first got into painting and how you got to where you are now?

Debora Koo: I never thought I would be a painter. It was just a hobby growing up. I took my first painting class at Smith College as a lost sophomore. Taking painting was a mixture of rebellion, pride, guilt, and genuine curiosity. I had intended to study something else and had made it quite clear to my family that art was not something I would do seriously. However, after taking my intended major courses freshman year without much interest and then out of a whim taking a drawing course my second semester, I decided that I would major in art. I had always wanted to try oil painting and signed up for my first painting class the following semester.

I did not tell my parents that I majored in art and they were shocked on the day of my graduation. Although they were disappointed, my parents were still supportive of my decision to pursue art. My father, who had saved and framed all of my drawings since preschool, is one of the biggest reasons I am where I am today.

Painting did not come easily to me, but for some reason, that was the reason why I wanted to get better. In my first class, all of my paintings turned out gray and ugly, but I kept taking painting classes. I believe this was largely due to the wonderful painting professors I had. After Smith, I studied painting in Korea at Ewha Woman’s University. I moved to Charlotte three years later for my first adjunct teaching job and became an artist resident at Goodyear Arts shortly after in March 2018. Thankfully I continue to have a studio space at Goodyear to this day. This is how I have been able to continue my practice. Through Goodyear, I was introduced to and given the chance to be a part of the local arts scene.

With the Covid pandemic, I had more time to paint. Since I could not go out to public spaces as much, I found myself going to the studio with fewer distractions. I believe that the pandemic has also helped me to share my art through social media and I have also been able to be exposed to New painters and paintings.

Overall, I believe much of my artistic journey was guided by taking on opportunities that came, no matter how big or small. Most of the time I was not sure where I would end up and took each moment as a learning opportunity. 

TG: How do you think your practice has evolved since you first began?

DK: When I first started painting, I wanted to explore different painting styles and methods. There were so many things I wanted to do and artists' works I wanted to imitate and try for myself that I would often lose sight of what I wanted to do. It was difficult not to compare myself to other artists and become paralyzed and confused. I still struggle with this even today but now I realize that I am more stunned than anything 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 pushing myself even more to find and express a genuine voice. One way is by looking inward and drawing inspiration from my daily life experiences and observations rather than that of others. I have found that by doing this, I have a more personal story to tell in my paintings. I have grown to be excited to start painting, rather than fearful. I think this is an indication of growth in the confidence of my vision. 

TG: Can you walk us through your process from start to finish?

DK: The process of painting usually starts with an idea that lurks in my head for weeks, but I do not start painting until I realize that I have been thinking constantly about the idea, and by that time I have no choice but to paint it. The idea can revolve around a color, a pattern, a light source, an action, an emotion, or an obsession I want to explore and capture. It starts off quite broad and at the beginning stages, I am not sure what the painting will look like. Sometimes I create compositions to include what I want to capture such as setting up a still life or making quick sketches. Other times, I will go out to find an image by taking photos or searching online for image references. When I have gotten a better sense of what I believe it is I want to express, I write down a list with possible sizes, compositions, and palette schemes and go through each idea on canvas. My paintings can still change a lot throughout the process and I make a lot of bad paintings before I finally make one that satisfies my vision. I have realized that this is part of the process although it is frustrating at times.

TG: Can you elaborate on specific themes and motifs we can find within your paintings? What inspires these?

DK: Some specific themes and motifs you can find within my paintings include light, food, figures, and everyday scenes that may be overlooked. Some of my greatest inspirations and influences go back to the artists I learned from when I first started painting at Smith. 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 did not 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. 

As for the theme of food, I have always had a huge sweet tooth so I find it most enjoyable when I paint dessert. The reason I love painting food is that it brings back my fondest memories as a child. My happiest moments were at birthday parties, family gatherings, church lunches, and weekend ice cream trips with my dad. Many times in my food paintings I will recreate some of the table settings from my memories but they are embellished and idealized. I believe this is a combination of my love of setting up still lives and romanticizing some of the memories revolving around food.

TG: What are your goals as an artist? Short-term and long-term.

DK: My short-term goals as an artist are to finish strong the projects I have this year. I also urgently need to clean and organize my studio which I have been putting off for a year. I have paintings since 2018 that are taking up a good chunk of my studio space. Another short-term goal is to get a large painting table and clean my brushes more thoroughly so that I do not have to buy brushes so often.

Long-term goals include painting consistently, furthering the themes in my work, and having a better and more specific understanding of who I am and what my work is about. 

I want to continue taking opportunities that come along to share and show my work and get to meet other artists.