ArtPrize September 19 - October 7, 2012 | Grand Rapids, MI
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Artist information
INJA CHO
KALAMAZOO, MI
Education
BFA
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[Cold + Hot] #7: 42"x32"
[Cold + Hot] #7: 42"x32"
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INJA CHO

Artist bio

The beauty of life has so many faces, which enhance imagination and the desire to create. In 2004, something broke: light became shadow, and movement ceased when I lost everything—function in my right hand and both legs due to spinal cord damage--and my job. All gone suddenly.
In the winter of 2005, I underwent emergency neurosurgery at the Univ. of Michigan Medical Center for an Anterior Cervical Discectomy & Fusion, which left me with an irreversible spinal cord injury. After intense physical therapy, I’ve finally accepted the realities of being partially disabled.
As a person with high spirit and very positive views about life, I have decided to paint to reflect my feelings of fear, gratitude, and hope. Fortunately, hope is a natural gift in order to survive, which I’ve been given in abundance. I am now painting using richly varied techniques and exploring patterns and wonderful colors. This is a reflection of how my life has been so far and how I hope it will continue to be.
About the work
Title: [Cold + Hot] series

Art form: 2-D

Medium: Mixed media: oil and saw dust on canvas

Year created: 2010

Description of work: The expressions in my work are personal and directed from within. I’m currently investigating the relationship that elements largely beyond my control impose on my life and environment in an effort to understand and express some of the unique experiences I have had. This interest stems from my ongoing struggles with neuropathic pain on the entire left side of my body due to spinal cord damage.
One goal of my recent artwork is to find a true, meaningful way of depicting the sensations I feel daily, both emotional and physical…sometimes I am standing in the burning embers of a fire and other times I am sitting on a block of ice. Often it’s a combination of both. As I am living with the impossible mixture of the two elements, I have tried to capture this reality and some of the feelings that result in my paintings.
My series [Cold+Hot], is the result of repetitive actions that become meditative exercises in consciously arranging forms, lines, and colors into compositions.

Height: 3 feet
Width: 4 feet
INJA CHO is showing at:

Arts Council of Greater GR at 38 West Fulton Arts Council of Greater GR at 38 West Fulton
38 W. Fulton
Grand Rapids, MI 49503

Venue location

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Artist resume