An interview with 2025 Artist Resident Diana Noh ahead of her group show opening on July 10, 2026 at Chicago Artists Coalition. This spotlight series aims to serve as an intimate introduction to our residents and their work through a Q&A-style interview. Interview originally conducted on March 31, 2026 by Dana Randall, Communications and Alumni Relations Manager at Chicago Artists Coalition.
Q: Do you have any common themes running through your most recent works in progress?
A: Yes. I feel like my recent works still continue to explore and center around fragmentation and reconstruction. I feel like since I started my practice at, twenty twenty two I mean, earlier twenty twenty because that’s when I started my MFA program, I was always very interested in exploring my feelings and emotions, and what it means to be part of two very different cultures, but also kind of, not really be one hundred percent part of each culture. So that was always kind of a common theme.
Right now, I’m more exploring how to challenge traditional photography. I feel like that was always also another theme physically that I wanted to challenge because, photography for me, it has so many fun ways you can explore it. But I feel like in the fine art area, it tends to be very strict that it has to be traditional. It has to be framed behind the glass. You can’t really touch the print because it’s so fragile. So I guess that always has been a recurring theme, or interest in my practice that I want to challenge.
I’m also more trying to focus on my maternal family relationships. I’m trying origami, which has also been a big part. I’m trying to weave in my Korean background more into my practice after I started living here in the States. I didn’t realize at the time that I wanted the Korean aspect of my life in my practice, but now I’m kind of fully embracing it.
Q: How has your work evolved since being in the CAC residency?
A: I feel like I am always very inspired when I’m around creative people who are also artists. I feel like I get stimulated while I talk about my practice or even learn about others’ practice. I feel like I also started to embrace the process a lot. I feel much less confident if I’m not in a creative artist community setting. I’ve been really enjoying the studio visits with a lot of people that CAC hosts. I feel like that’s a very special moment for me as I didn’t really get a chance to do a lot of those since I graduated school.
Also just being in a pod with Skyler and Herman, they’re both painters, so I have been starting more interdisciplinary work in the realms of drawing because, I feel like I didn’t really draw or paint that much, but it was always kind of something that I was interested in, but not confident about.
Right now I’m actually working on a piece with Skyler and Herman, so we’re planning on having a collaborative piece in our show. That has been very fun and interesting. And, yeah, I think it really stimulates me to be more community centered, to be more open. And, I’m also thinking of what I can give back given as much as I got from them.
Q: What are some of your biggest artistic influences? Where do you find inspiration?
A: I feel like for me, I get very inspired by just my everyday relationships, interactions with other people. I guess it’s because I’m very much depicting how my feelings are. And just thinking about talking with my mom just in general right now because my practice is more focused towards my maternal side of the family, and her experiences with her mom. I get a lot of inspiration looking at other artists’ work as well. I feel I work very intuitively. So when it comes to deciding what I’m going to do for my practice, I tend to kind of, look around a lot, go to a lot of exhibitions, see other people’s practices, see what they’re doing, and then get inspired. Maybe I can try this with my work. Maybe I can use that material to experiment how it will work on my work.
Some artists I look up to and find inspiration from are Letha Wilson, Katie Shapiro, Do Ho Suh and Eli Craven.
Q: Tell me about your favorite mediums. What about them speaks to you?
A: Photography is my favorite medium just because I’m a photographer, and I am also very interested in various paper types because there are so many different paper types that I can lay my photographs on. Depending on what surface of a paper I decide to use and how I treat them, it really makes the work very different. So naturally I guess I’m also very interested in printmaking as well. I feel like in a sense printmaking shares a lot of similarity with the dark room photography process because it’s very heavily process driven and repetitive.
Also I always love to knit or do tufting for fun as a hobby. So fiber as well. I feel like paper is also part of fiber art, so that kind of comes in. And because I have been stitching a lot of my pieces I’m interested in different textures of yarn, threads, and embroidery as well. I just realized there is Korean embroidery, which I’m planning to also eventually incorporate into my practice, but I have so many interests I’m trying to explore one at a time.
Q: Do you have a favorite time of day to create? How does the time you find or choose to make influence your practice?
A: This is very funny because I feel like I’m most productive when I’m pressed with time, when I have to go out to meet my partner’s family or something like that. It’s so random throughout the day because I work very intuitively. It’s hard to explain. Sometimes I just have this drive to work on a piece right now. Then most of the time, it goes really smoothly. So I try to not miss that window. But generally speaking, I also think I’m very productive during the nighttime when it’s kind of early evening because things start to wind down and it’s very quiet, and I’m also in my own zone. When I start focusing, it’s just a very smooth ride. But also, I will say during summer, I love sunlight. And in my studio, the sunlight comes through to my desk area because the window is behind me. And I love that time because looking at the fluttering lights, it really influences me, and it really makes me want to sit at my desk and make something.
Q: In keeping with our values, one thing we want to do is cultivate a community of knowledge-sharing. What is something you would encourage other artists to learn about? What is something that made a difference in your career?
A: I want to encourage people to learn how to articulate about their work. Because I know artists are very visual, sometimes it can be very difficult to verbally depict your practice or write about it. But I think it’s a very significant factor because I have been getting a lot of feedback from people that when I do artist talks or talk about my practice in general, I’m very good at articulating my practice.
And I find, sometimes it connects you to an opportunity to maybe do shows or a talk. I feel like it’s also important that you can communicate with the general public because at least for me, that’s who I consider my audience to be. So, targeting who your audience is and trying to articulate your practice and trying to, really know how to explain what you’re trying to do and what your expectations are with your work.
Q: Do you have a personal philosophy relating to your practice or your life?
A: I feel like in my practice, it’s important to hold complexity and embrace imperfections, allowing things that people don’t necessarily think should be coexisting. They exist altogether. Because I feel like some of my works can be viewed as being in the process of getting repaired, and I sometimes get questions about, well, why is the piece like this? Are you just leaving it like that? Or is this finished? And this even translates to the way I hang my work, because I often use grommets on the back, and don’t necessarily frame my work in a traditional frame.I think that’s pretty much how I am as a person as well. My practice and myself as a person kind of overlap.
Also, I think just being open. I’m always a very curious person, and I am always open to learning so many different skills. So I feel like that kind of reflects generally in my practice and also as a person because I ask a lot of questions when I’m with somebody, when I’m trying to get to know them because I’m very curious.
Website: diananoh.com
Instagram: @diananohstudio
You can view Diana’s work at her group show opening on Friday, July 10, 2026 from 5-8pm at Chicago Artists Coalition alongside Herman Aguirre and Skyler Simpson, curated by Rachel Dukes.