From My Garden: Kyoung Ae Cho, Opening Reception

Hawthorn  Contemporary is pleased to announce the exhibition opening of From My  Garden, featuring multi- material fiber-based works of Milwaukee artist  Kyoung Ae Cho.

The works in the exhibition span two decades of production of Cho’s  work, celebrating and in conversation with nature. The intimate use of  natural elements combined with her keen recognition of the beauty and  materiality of the objects invites the viewers to get closer to the  works. Thus forging a unique and personal relationship between the  audience and the work. Cho’s work compels the viewer to understand  humans' inseparable relationship with nature. She says, “I learned to  look at nature with love and respect since we do not own nature, but we  belong to nature.”

Kyoung  Ae Cho (b.1963, South Korea) is a fibers artist who is engaging in a  conversation with nature, respectfully incorporating natural elements,  recycled matter as well as low-valued materials, mostly which she has  gathered. She earned her MFA (1992) from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in  Michigan and her BFA (1986) from Ducksung Women’s University in Seoul,  South Korea. Cho’s work, a poetic juxtaposition of natural wonder with  sensual delight and fragile existence, has been exhibited in national and  international venues including Lynden Sculpture Garden, Milwaukee, WI;  Museum of Wisconsin Art, West Bend, WI; Muskegon Museum of Art, MI;  North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC; Madison Museum of  Contemporary Art, WI; Gregg Museum of Art and Design, Raleigh, NC;  Sheldon Museum of Art, Lincoln, NE; Morris Museum, Morristown, NJ; San  Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, San Jose, CA; Tweed Museum of Art, Duluth, MN; Boulder Museum  of Contemporary Art, CO; John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI;  University of Hawaii Art Gallery, Honolulu; Kemper Museum of  Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO; Dairy Barn Arts Center, Athens, OH;  Detroit Institute of Arts, MI; Carnegie Art Museum of Oxnard, CA;  Deutsches Texrilmuseum Krefeld, GERMANY; Poikilo-museot, Kouvola,  FINLAND; Textilemuseum, Tilburg, NETHERLANDS; National Museum of  History, Taipei, TAIWAN; Cheongju Craft Museum, Cheongju, SOUTH KOREA;  National Museum of Modern Art, Gwacheon, SOUTH KOREA. Cho has been the  recipient of numerous awards including the Lillian Elliott Award, the  Quilt National Award of Excellence, the Pollock-Krasner Grant, the UWM  Foundation and Graduate School Research Award, and Wisconsin Arts Board  Award Fellowship. Cho is Professor of Art & Design at the University  of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.