Designers Nina Cho

Nina Cho is an artist and designer, currently based in Detroit. Nina was born in the United States and raised in Korea, where she studied Woodworking and Furniture design at Korea’s Premier Art School, Hong-Ik University. She then earned an MFA in 3D Design at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in the United States.

Cho says, “The aesthetic of emptiness is a Korean traditional aesthetic. In painting, the unpainted portion of the surface is as important as the portion that was painted; it’s about respecting the emptiness as much as the object. Through practicing the beauty of the void, I can respect not only the object itself but also the negative space that object created. The negative space does not signify a deficiency to me. An empty space poetically invites the air, users, surroundings, and the spirit of a space to complete the piece itself. I believe that my own personal background has naturally led me to a minimal and simplified aesthetic. My recent works have focused on reductive forms that blur the line between an art object and a functional product. I am practicing a strict rule in design: to create form by distilling it to its most essential structure and to its most basic function. By eliminating unnecessary factors and highlighting a singular material, I aim to simplify not only a form but the fabrication process as well. I pursue ideas of lightness and reduction in my work. Colors, shape, and material must be essential to the piece and complete the work.”

In 2016 Nina was one of the Winners of the Matter of Stuff Designer Residencies Competition in Montalcino, Italy.