Serendipitous encounters lead Suh Suhyun to craft unconventional, accessible objects

Imagination operates as a wellspring brimming with innovative, resourceful ideas, enabling creative individuals to envision the uncommon and the unconventional. By tapping into imaginative faculties, creatives weave together a variety of influences, ideas, and experiences, to bring to fruition, something that tangible, usable, novel and distinctive. By fine-tuning their process of getting inside their heads to tap into their imaginations, designers are able to craft projects that enthral, invigorate, and reinvent. This imagination acts as a link between the known and the unknown. It leverages their ability to conjure up thoughts that cross boundaries, explore new ideas, and consequently, breathe life into unique projects.

In the same vein, furniture artist and director Suh Suhyun draws from her memories and imagination to conceive distinctive product designs that bridge the gap between art and functional objects. Describing the creative inspiration behind her work, Suhyun shares, “I draw a lot of inspiration from myself—my memories, everything I see in the present moment, and even my thoughts. When creating artwork, I prioritise immersing myself in the moment and infusing my emotions into the work. Most of these emotions are about joy, so I believe my artworks are imbued with that joy.”

The Seoul-based designer skillfully employs a diverse palette of materials, including steel, glass, coated rope, ash, plywood, sponge, and fabric, to create objects and furniture designs that exhibit a timeless quality, meant to resonate across generations and cater to everyone. Suhyun aspires to establish herself as an artist who is able to rouse within her audience, thoughtfulness and vitality, through her artistic pursuits. She believes that the process of looking at, touching, and interacting with the artwork is what defines her artistic oeuvre.

"She actively seeks out overlooked and underestimated entities such as forgotten childhood memories and serendipitous encounters and breathes new life into them through her work. Her furniture and objects, created through combinations of unconventional materials and bold colours, go beyond generational boundaries and are accessible to everyone," reads the Korean artist's profile on her website.

The furniture designer from South Korea develops concepts that are in equal measure, thought-provoking and intriguing. An instance of this can be seen in one of her collections titled Plumpy, which stems from her line of thinking, that even chairs wear padded jackets when it gets cold. Elaborating on the inspiration behind another recent collection called Taeum, Suhyun relays, “Beauty emerging from uncertainty: the Taeum series began with a reflection of my own existence, which never seemed to belong entirely to any one domain, in contrast to those around me who appeared to have settled in a single field."

"This ambiguity, which could not be clearly described as one thing or another, was sometimes agonising, but it became an opportunity for me to discover my own presence. Presently, my position is like a small 'gap' nestled between clearly defined fields. In this gap, I cannot predict what might be hidden, but sometimes, new life, such as plants or mushrooms, emerges by chance. This commitment is expressed in Taeum, which draws parallels with the deep sea, where unexpected beauty withholds hidden life. Through these works, I hope to offer comfort and courage to those facing life's uncertainties, just like me,” the Korean designer continues.

As a product designer, Suhyun possesses and displays a knack for harnessing personal experiences and emotions, to infuse them into her works. Her artistic furniture, creative objects, and lighting designs serve as sources of inspiration, insight, and vigour, for anyone who encounters them. Her works continue to embody the impact of imagination within the world of design, as she continues to explore fresh creative frontiers.