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Centerstage salutes Chi-Town's creative geniuses with a new series of Artist Sketches.

Thursday Oct 13, 2005.     By Joanne Hinkel

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Some have said her paintings look like amoebas floating. Others say they appear as cells dividing, or as underwater creatures and plants intertwining. Whatever your interpretation, one thing remains definite about Sally Ko and her artwork: They are both well on their way to stardom.

This artist, born in Korea and raised in the north suburbs, has been making quite a name for herself in the Chicago art scene. With a client list that boasts such names as Jerry Kleiner, the Driehaus family and Mr. and Mrs. Michael Jordan, Ko's inner world is coloring some of Chicago's most notable homes and spaces, including her own, a Pilsen studio she opens every second Friday as part of the monthly Chicago Arts District open studios event. I recently visited Ko at her studio in Pilsen and tried to get at what makes her tick.

Centerstage: What does it mean to be an artist in Chicago?

Ko: Well, the cultures of the different people and the different influences have a profound effect on me. But more importantly, I think I'm proud of being a Chicagoan and that's why I'm here...I don't know what kind of artist I would be if I transplanted myself. My art is my history and my life and that's in Chicago so it's important for me to be in Chicago.

CS: Did you ever think of moving to New York?

Ko: I think that it's easier to be an artist in Chicago [for me] because everything is less expensive here than in New York and I can live better. The mentality here is a little more traditional here than in New York, so connecting my art to people here is challenging. I think on the coasts people are more open to be expressive...the market is more traditional here.

CS: Your paintings are not "realistic" in the technical sense of the word. They are entirely abstract and imaginative. What's your process for creating? Do you sketch out your ideas first?

Ko: I don't like to sketch. My work is about the process; it's not about what it's supposed to be in the end. Whatever I'm feeling I'm trying to make a connection [to that emotion] with a color. Whatever I'm feeling has to do with what I'm thinking about. It can be something great and happy and celebratory, or it can be about hard times in the past. I don't remember a lot of things about growing up, about my childhood. When I paint I'm almost reminiscing and reliving those moments. Now my life is so great and I realize how important time is...I think I'm trying to get back so many of those times from my past that I forgot about. I'm trying to get my memories back.

CS: What are some things that create the environment you need for painting?

Ko: I listen to music: classic rock, Motown, the Drive. [Music] that reminds me of coming to this country, the music that my [older] sister used to play when I was little and the music that was all around then [in the '70s]. This is the kind of stuff that triggers emotion. They are the sounds of my childhood.

And I just have to sit down and think. I feel like I always have so many ideas and thoughts going on in my head that I have to do something to get it out...It's like a drug when I'm painting and it's like self-therapy.

CS: Is it frustrating, the process of trying to sell your work?

Ko: Not really. The more people buy the more that I can create. The more I can afford to create. It's important for me to sell my work. I need validation from those people that I'm doing something important and real...A lot of times I feel like painting is just self-indulgence. If someone else appreciates it then I feel more at peace with creating more of it.

CS: How important is it to have your studio in Pilsen where you can open it to the public each month (on 2nd Fridays)?

Ko: It took me a long time to do this, to show my work publicly. It took me over a month to invite my husband (then my boyfriend) to my house, because I used to paint there before I had this studio. I didn't have a studio then. And I didn't know if I trusted him enough yet to show him my paintings. Also, it helps me to talk about my work with people, to get their feedback. It gives me encouragement.

CS: You have sold more than 40 paintings in the last year and a half. Since you are not in a "gallery," how is it that you've sold so many paintings?

Ko: Through the Chicago Arts District open houses and through word of mouth. People see my work at other people's homes and then ask about the artist, that kind of thing.

CS: Juanita Jordan recently bought two of your paintings. What was that experience like?

Ko: Great! I'm so flattered that someone who has seen so many things and been to so many amazing places is interested in me. Juanita Jordan could really buy any artwork she wants to and the fact that she took time out of her day to visit my studio and that she bought two of my pieces is just amazing!

The Sally Ko Studio is located at 1747 S. Halsted and is open on the second Friday of the month and by appointment.

Both paintings shown, "Untitled from the White Series" (above) and "Blue" (below) are mixed media works made in 2005 by Sally Ko.