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Kyoung Ae Cho Headshot

Kyoung Ae Cho

  • Professor, Fibers
  • Graduate Program Representative, Art & Design
  • Area Head, Fibers

Education

  • MFA, Fibers, Cranbrook Academy of Art, 1991
  • BFA, Textile Design, Duksung Women's University, 1986

Biography

Kyoung Ae Cho is an artist who is engaging in a conversation with nature. This conversation results in various visual formats. That includes Fiber construction, quilts, collage, woven pieces, sculpture, photography, drawing, and installation. She transforms gathered natural materials, recycled materials, and low-value materials into works of art.

Since 1986, Cho has exhibited her works in 240 exhibitions in national and international venues. She has had 19 solo exhibitions at museums and galleries such as Hawthorn Contemporary, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Sharon Lynne Wilson Center, Brookfield, Wisconsin; James Watrous Gallery, Madison, Wisconsin; Lynden Sculpture Garden, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Tweed Museum of Art, Duluth, Minneapolis; Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri; Belger Arts Center, Kansas City, Missouri; INOVA, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; The Gallery at Montalvo, Saratoga, California; Goddard Gallery, Sedalia, Missouri; Evanston Art Center, Evanston, Illinois; Sheehan Gallery, Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington among others.

Cho has participated in group exhibitions at various venues such as Ats+Literature Lab, Madison, Wisconsin;  Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver, Colorado; Hangaram Design Museum, Seoul, South Korea; Museum of Wisconsin Art, West Bend, Wisconsin; John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin; Textile Center, Minneapolis, Minneapolis; Muskegon Museum of Art, Michigan; Deutsches Textilmuseum, Krefeld, Germany; TAMAT Museum, Tournai, Belgium; Poikilo-museot, Kouvola, Finland; North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, North Carolina; Gregg Museum of Art and Design, Raleigh, North Carolina; Sheldon Museum of Art, Lincoln, Nebraska; Morris Museum, Morristown, New Jersey; Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Colorado; University of Hawaii Art Gallery, Honolulu; Dairy Barn Arts Center, Athens, Ohio; San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, San Jose, California; National Museum of History, Taipei, Taiwan; Detroit Institute of Arts, Michigan; Cheongju Craft Museum, Cheongju, South Korea; National Museum of Modern Art, Gwacheon, South Korea among others.

Many publications have published Cho’s works, such as Fiber Art Today by Schiffer Publishing Ltd; Art Quilts Unfolding: 50 Years of Innovation by Schiffer Publishing Ltd; Masters: Art Quilts by Lark Books; The Ultimate Guide to Art Quilting by Sixth & Spring Books; The Best of Contemporary Quilts by Lark Books; Fiberarts Design Book IV, VI & VII by Lark Books; Art Textiles of the World: USA by Telos Art Publishing, England; and No: Nouvel Object by Design House, South Korea. Telos Art Publishing in England has published her monograph, Portfolio Collection: Kyoung Ae Cho.

Cho has received numerous awards, including a Research Fellowship at the Center for 21st Century Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the UWM Foundation and Graduate School Research Award, the Wisconsin Arts Board Award Fellowship, the Lillian Elliott Award, the Quilt National Award of Excellence, and the Pollock-Krasner Grant.

Born in Asan, South Korea, in 1963, Kyoung Ae Cho earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, in 1991, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Ducksung Women’s University, Seoul, South Korea, in 1986. Since 1999, Cho has been teaching Fibers at UW-Milwaukee, where she is a Professor of Art and Design.

Links

Recent & Selected Works

Hand-stitched translucent cubes with embedded fibers, reflecting Cho’s delicate material practice.
“Paused,” 2022. Dandelion seeds, silk organza, thread. Gathered, hand-stitched. 560 cubes; each cube: 2 x 2 x 2 inches. Installed on Astro Turf 72 x 96 inches.
Rounded form made of layered fibers, reflecting Cho’s focus on accumulated natural materials.
“Crabapple Flower Pedicel Ball,” 2023. Crabapple flower pedicels. 6 x 6 x 5 inches.
Dark textile piece with layered geometric stitching, echoing Cho’s meditative craft.
“He Was Formal,” 2020. Late Father’s pants, thread. Hand and machine stitched. 42 x 43 inches.
Circular woven form on text-patterned panel, reflecting Cho’s layered material rituals.
“Mourning Mat,” 2024. Mat made in collaboration with ChoonBong Park artist’s mother, using Late Father’s pajama & boxer shorts, and ribbons from Late Mother’s funeral, silk, thread on Canvas. Shredding, braiding, hand-stitched, collage. 36 x 36 inches.
Wall of diverse patterned textile panels arranged in a grid, reflecting Cho’s material rhythms.
“Worn,” 2022. Forty-five pieces of old clothing from 1980s-2000s, felt, thread. Hand-sewn installation. 192 x 84 inches.
Grid of small white cubes on green mat, echoing Kyoung Ae Cho’s meticulous material studies.
“Paused,” 2022. Dandelion seeds, silk organza, thread. Gathered, hand-stitched. 560 cubes; each cube: 2 x 2 x 2 inches. Installed on Astro Turf. 72 x 96 inches

Artistic Exhibitions & Artwork

  • Cho, Kyoung Ae. Emulate, Recreate, Translate, 2025 International Exhibition in Print, Surface Design Association (Vol 49, no 3 Fall 2025)
  • Cho, Kyoung Ae, Made: Contemporary Fiber Arts.16 Sep. -8 Nov. 2025, Arts & Literature Lab, Madison, Wisconsin
  • Cho, Kyoung Ae, Contemporary Fibers- Botanicals. 17 May- 28 Sep. 2025, Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver, CO
  • Cho, Kyoung Ae, 2025 International Fiber Art Festival. May 2- 11 May 2025, Hangaram Design Museum, Seoul Art Center, Seoul, South Korea
  • Cho, Kyoung Ae, Contemporary Fibers- Botanicals, a juried exhibition in print. April 2025, Fiber Art Now (Vol 14, Issue 2 Spring 2025)
  • Cho, Kyoung Ae, Fiber Flux. 8 Nov.- 14 Dec. 2024, Valade Family Gallery, College for Creative Studies, Detroit, Michigan
  • Cho, Kyoung Ae, Kyoung Ae Cho: Passing (solo). 8 Nov.- 31 Dec. 2024, Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts, Brookfield, Wisconsin
  • Cho, Kyoung Ae, Future Fibers.19 Jan.- 1 Mar. 2024, Walkers Point Center for the Arts, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
  • Cho, Kyoung Ae, High Fibers. 4 Nov.- 16 Dec. 2023, Jazz Gallery Center for the Arts, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
  • Cho, Kyoung Ae, Kyoung Ae Cho: From My Garden (solo). 16 Sep. - 19 Nov. 2023, Hawthorn Contemporary, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
  • Cho, Kyoung Ae, Asia Europe 5. 4 June- 3 Sep. 2023, Deutsches Textilmuseum Krefeld, Krefeld, Germany
  • Cho, Kyoung Ae, Magic Wilderness: Dreamscapes of the Forest. 22 Oct. 2022-15 Jan. 2023, Museum of Wisconsin Art, West Bend, Wisconsin
  • Cho, Kyoung Ae, Kyoung Ae Cho: Pause (solo) . 9 Sep.- 6 Nov. 2022, James Watrous Gallery, Madison, Wisconsin
  • Cho, Kyoung Ae, Asia Europe 5. 19 Feb.- 29 May 2022, The Tamat Museum, Tournai, Belgium

Notable

  • Matz, Lee, Kyoung Ae Cho: How Embracing Korean Heritage and Uniting Cultures Started with Her Own Name, Milwaukee Independent, 22 Oct, 2024, https://www.milwaukeeindependent.com/articles/kyoung-ae-cho-embracing-korean-heritage-uniting-cultures-started-name/
  • Clowes, Jody, A Conversation with Kyoung Ae Cho, Wisconsin People & Ideas, (ISSN 1558-9633) (Summer 2022) https://www.wisconsinacademy.org/magazine/summer-2022/watrous-gallery/conversation-kyoung-ae-cho