Juheon Cho

Juheon Cho, a contemporary artist based in Berlin, offers us Mindscape that visualizes the events and experiences encountered everyday by breaking them down into shapes, colors and textures through two projects – ‘Daily drawing project (@project.dear.diary)' and ‘A Work towards Incomplete’ She captures moments of emotion, memory, conflict, solidarity and recovery within herself and those around her with drawing, and visually unfolds the point where this personal narrative, i.e., micro history intersects with social issues. Each of 164 drawings collected in this way contains a sliced portion of life, and the artist reconstructs them into an ideal landscape, a ‘Mindscape of coexistence’. This non-existing landscape is a space of coexistence we imagine and dream of together, but which has not yet been realized. To emphasize the value and creativity of artistic labor and the importance of the creative process and the joy felt in it, she made the creative process visible by leaving all the traces (sketches, auxiliary lines, unfinished parts that are intentionally left uncolored, etc.) remained on the canvas that were made while conceiving the work. The unfinished state visible in each part signifies the ongoing artistic process and symbolizes the indelible and eternal connection between the artist, the work, and the viewers. Cho is continuing her explorations using various media including drawing, painting (Korean Jinchaehwa), digital media, sculpture and installation. The artist, who continues to create narratives that focus on the stories of individuals who serve as the capillaries of history and society centered around ‘micro history’ and coexistence, plans to expand the horizons of her work in both Berlin and Korea. “I go back to my studio, work hard to make and paint something after listening to stories of the world, and I feel creativity and happiness in doing so. … My work always begins with a story. At first, I transferred the narratives and images that arose within me into drawing … … I’m facing another change. However, the things I’d like to preserve through art are becoming clearer. I will continue to draw stories of the people and talk about coexistence. I find eternal pleasure in this labor, in this work. All these processes are an attempt to weave back the seemingly disconnected world. Juxtaposing stories of mine, yours, and ours all together on one canvas and looking at the resonance and dissonance in between. Perhaps, that’s the most truthful thing art can do today. … I want to say. If art doesn’t care for sadness, conflict and anxiety, what can? We can’t rest yet. However, we’re doing well.” -From the artist’s note in 2025-