GOBI — Sohyeon Jenny Eom

📍 Los Angeles, CA

I wear many hats – a founder, producer, educator, curator, creative director, visual artist, designer and caretaker. I am passionate about building communities, bridging cultural gaps, creating experiences that spark inspiration and sense of connection. I enjoy meaning-making and connecting the dots.

In work, I value efficiency, alignment and clear communication, and in life, I value people, freedom and openness, but more often than not, work and life are intricately intertwined.

I’m occasionally a party-thrower, frequently the decision-maker and always a daydreamer.

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GOBI is a curatorial initiative that softens boundaries between Art–Culture and Aesthetic–Function. Through exhibitions, experiences, and collaborations, GOBI highlights contemporary artists, designers, and cultural producers of Korea and diasporic communities in Los Angeles.

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01 Creative Direction and Identity

August 2022 to February 2023

Project: Creative Direction and Identity

GOBI draws its name from gobi, a Korean traditional furniture from the Joseon dynasty. It was a cabinet that was hung on the wall as decoration and used to hold letters and documents. Gobi was unique in that it was the only furniture that valued aesthetic and function equally.

The purpose of this furniture is also interesting in that it holds letters and documents. It was a vessel for stories and validation. It embodied exchange and empowerment.

As such, GOBI aims to create an inclusive and sustainable model for emerging and underrepresented artists by facilitating visual and cultural exchange.

GOBI is directed by Jenny Eom, art directed and designed by Jaejin Ee & Sangah Shin, and built by Eurico Sa Fernandes.

02 The Darkroom by GOBI

February to April 2023

Project: The Darkroom by GOBI
Venue: LINE LA

The Darkroom by GOBI was a pop-up experience housed inside the LINE LA. Recognizing the hotel’s goal of providing entertainment and cultural amenity for hotel guests, GOBI curated an engaging installation consisting of two vending machines and a photographic exhibition with the concept of a black and white darkroom.

I wanted to tell real LA stories, venturing away from the typical image of LA. GOBI invited three LA-based artists, a nonprofit organization, and a local film company to partake in this installation.

Jackie Castillo, artist and daughter of a Mexican brick maker, photographed construction sites, questioning who gets to occupy space and at what stage. Emanuel Hahn told stories of immigrant business owners in Koreatown, LA, where the hotel is located. Camille Siyan Ji captured bodies of water throughout the drylands of LA. All the works were lit dimly by red light in the space to create visual coherency, while making an opportunity for Instagrammable photos for visitors.

One of the vending machine was designated to CineStill, a local company that respools Kodak motion picture cinema film stock to be used for analog still photography. The visitors were able to purchase film from this vending machine 24/7. To encourage the engagement of visitors, GOBI partnered with two local film labs (Tom’s One Hour Photo and Gold Photo), providing discounted rates and created a communal drive where photographs can be uploaded and shared among visitors.

The other vending machine was curated with smaller works by participating artists, GOBI merchandise, as well as zines made by students at Las Fotos Projects, a local nonprofit organization providing photography education to students from low income households. Proceeds from the zines were distributed equally among the ten participating students.

Related programmings such as viewing party, print sales, photo walks (in collaboration with Koreatown Run Club), film developing workshop (by CineStill), MOTOR LA (artist-run mobile gallery) popup and panel discussion were well attended and created strong social presence.

03 Landscapes, or perhaps a blanket

September 2023 to August 2024

Project: Landscapes, or perhaps a blanket
Venue: GOBI Artist Suite at RYSE Hotel

The hotel room is an intimate, yet temporary space that is both private and communal. Each guest’s individual experience add to the accumulated narrative around the room and the hotel’s identity.

Thinking about the shared experience (of isolation, exploration and discovery) and the act of living, I curated Landscapes, or Perhaps a Blanket to be exhibited at the GOBI Artist Suite on the 15th floor of RYSE, Autograph Collection. The experience brings together works by Kyuhwa Moon and Scott Lee, two artists living and working 6,000 miles apart. Despite the distance, the two artists create scenes that bear similarities in form, process and reflection.

During the pandemic, Kyuhwa Moon experienced the global calamity throgh produce and landscapes that surrounded her home and studio in Seoul. She observed these landscapes that formed out of necessity –the need for food and hope. As small gardens began to shape in her neighborhood, she painted the organic forms that changed as people planted, grew, watered and consumed the fruits and vegetables. These landscapes were painted in micro and macro scales, zooming into the core of a yellow nectarine and zooming out to a large field of vegetables.

Meanwhile in Los Angeles, Scott Lee paid tribute to the everyday by noticing the delicate and fragile nature against a cold, industrial city landscape. His paintings gently depict roots, trees, flowers and buds that bring warmth and liveliness to dark, isolated and industrial surfaces. The impermenence of these fragile subjects emphasize the blaring vitality of nature and serve as a reminder of life.

Through their works, Kyuhwa Moon and Scott Lee share their discoveries – small moments and encounters that may have gone unrecognized. These moments provide comfort and hope at times, pleasure and joy at other times. With hopes that guests will be able to uncover their own findings during their stay at the GOBI Artist Suite, digitized drawings were installed and hidden throughout the room, encouraging guests to enjoy an active and engaging “stay.” Merchandising, such as postcards, cups, and sticker packs are under production.

04 Chris Ro, Thick As Thieves

December 2022

Project: Chris Ro, Thick As Thieves
Venue: LINE LA

Chris Ro is a Seoul-based artist who comes from a background of graphic design and architecture. His recent work is based on his own fictional writings about thieves – thieves that are non-criminal. In his writings, he explores ownership and value of cultural, emotional and non-material belongings in light and humorous ways. These ideas are investigated through both content and process. Using silkscreens, he “borrows” forms from one image to another, blurring the space between fine art and design.

To mirror this process, furniture, lighting and interior design props were “borrowed” from the hotel’s property and transformed into an installation of Ro’s works. The installation and handmade books activated LINE LA’s studio space (Chris Ro Reading Room), inviting viewers to engage in an active participation in the works.

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