Fragment is pleased to present “Shifts and Echoes”, an exhibition of sculpture and paintings by artists Michelle S. Cho and Ian Ha. Amidst varied material practices, both artists investigate and capture movement, whether cast metal relic (Cho) or as synthesized image (Ha). In this process, each offers a unique investigation of surface. For Cho, this is accomplished through the skins of tires, mirrored into almost geologic formations of metal. “Triremes”, dragon-like and creaturely in its scaley exposition, executes a new mythology from abandoned tires. The series of work fossilize earlier patterns of motion in their pewter castes, transforming refuse into new commodities. Cho's work calls forth legacies of transportation, migration, and their respective craftsmen, the value of pewter held not in its alloy of metals, but in how it was touched.
Ha's relief-style paintings, incorporating ornately illustrated plants and tiled floors in works such as “weather home”, offer his viewer an optical illusion of movement and a new fantasy woven from images of everyday life. His colorful water-based pigments signal motion between the constituent parts of the dreamscapes he creates, providing commentary on how the media bombards its recipients without filtered control. In a cultural moment where linear narrative and a straightforward storyline—through an influx of information—are not guaranteed, physical form and color themselves become a pulse that guides the viewer.
The result of these works in conversation is a kaleidoscopic narrative that becomes more feeling-based than scripted when found in the presence of artifacts, making the memory of motion the most seductive plot point.
— Kōan Brink
Michelle S. Cho (b.1996) is a Korean-American sculptor who currently lives and works in New York City. Recently, she has been exhibited at the CICA Museum, Gimpo, The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, New York City, Vox Pouli, Philadelphia, and the Korean Culture Center, Washington D.C. Cho has received her MFA from the University of Pennsylvania, and her BFA from the Cooper Union School of Art. Cho currently works in Cultural and Heritage Preservation for the Republic of Korea’s Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation.
Ian Ha (b.1997) is from Yong-in, South Korea, and lives and works in New York. He
received his BFA in Seoul National University, Seoul in 2022 and is currently a
candidate for his MFA in Visual Arts from Columbia University in 2024.
