ART21: What is it that you like about domestic objects?
SMITH: [All the things] we use in our daily lives are these forms that have these deep, long histories to them. Those are special things to pay attention to. It’s important to pay attention. Like I was saying when we were talking about beauty—I think you are supposed to...
ART21: You seem to have a very interesting approach to process, of letting a work evolve at its own speed.
SMITH: It’s sort of nice—making something, and then nothing comes immediately. That’s how it is a lot of times. You make something, and nothing happens with it for years, and then all of a sudden it can happen. That’s nice...
ART21: What was your training in art in Korea like? What did you study?
SUH: It was a traditional painting technique that I learned there. Basically, ink on rice paper, mostly black and white, with a very flexible brush. For the first through the second year of college, you train how to use your brush well and how to grind your...
ART21: Why do you have these military supplies in your studio? What’s your interest in them?
SUH: I have some old army surplus stuff that I collected for a school assignment, which ended up being the first sculpture in my life. I didn’t actually use these things. I was going to, but I sort of changed my mind. Somehow the...
ART21: Your very first silhouette work, Gone, An Historical Romance of Civil War As it Occurred Between the Dusky Thighs of Young Negress and Her Heart, makes reference to Margaret Mitchell’s novel, Gone with the Wind. What influence did this novel play in the development of your work?
"My approach tends to be from experiments. I need the challenge. If I know how to do something well, there's no need to do it all the time because it becomes a little monotonous. So I like to find a challenge."
