Interview with Nina Cho

December 2022

We are honored and excited to announce the acquisition of Nina Cho’s ‘Curved Chair’ by the Cranbrook Art Museum.

Nina Cho is an artist and designer born in the United States and raised in South Korea. Since earning her MFA in 3D Design at the Cranbrook Academy of Art, she has lived and worked in Detroit. Cho’s personal background led her to a simplified aesthetic. Pursuing ideas of lightness and reduction in her work, Cho focuses on reductive forms that blur the line between art object and functional product.

In celebration of the recent acquisition of her ‘Curved Chair’ by the Cranbrook Art Museum, we sat down with Cho to discuss the evolution of her chair concept and what is next in her practice.

IMWG: How did you develop the concept for your chair?

NC: I first designed the chair to present for my thesis show at Cranbrook Academy of Art. During my graduate studies I explored the creation of three-dimensional form through the simple manipulation of two-dimensional planar material.

First, I explored various form ideas working with paper to refine a single broad bend to create the chair shell. After creating models from small to full scale, I applied the same concept and process to thin gauge sheet metal. Beginning with a circular sheet of metal, a pie-shape is cut away, the resulting edges are then connected by curving the metal sheet. This creates a wide seat that invites freedom of posture and the long line of the outside curve functions as an armrest. The legs echo the form of the chair shell perimeter.

IMWG: Your perspective on design as we go into a new year?

NC:  I believe in collaboration and cooperation now more than ever. My design studio wouldn’t be able to exist without the people I work with - and I am excited to work on more collaborative projects in the new year. I also want to explore new materials and new ideas that will challenge me as a designer and extend my creative practice in new directions that I couldn’t even imagine now.

IMWG: What Is the current focus of your practice?

NC: I cultivate two sides of my design studio practice. One side is self-initiated projects focused on collectible or conceptual design. The other side is collaborative projects with companies, manufacturers or institutions to create and more widely produce products and reach a broader customer base.