Irene Y K Cha

Artist Bio

Irene YK) Cha is a Toronto-based visual artist born in Seoul, Korea. Her work explores the conceptual space Between—a realm where opposites coexist and truth often resides in the unseen. Inspired by nature’s silent transformations and human repetition, she investigates how invisible forces shape our perceptions and emotions. Her recent series, Between, reflects on the harmony between the visible and invisible, Yin and Yang, and the meanings found in what connects them. To Cha, “Between” is a metaphysical space that links all stories of life—vast yet unseen. Like perceiving wind through swaying branches, her work invites viewers to sense the intangible through visible signs, revealing the unseen structures of existence. Combining resin and acrylic, Cha creates layered surfaces that obscure, reveal, and echo the rhythm of memory and transformation. Washing, re-layering, and leaving traces mirror natural and emotional cycles. Resin’s transparency and resistance embody coexistence and duality, while her process—dripping, spraying, wiping—balances organic spontaneity and synthetic precision. Her work reflects an ongoing dialogue between technology and nature, seeking harmony rather than dominance. Cha earned her BFA and MFA from Ewha Womans University in Seoul. After relocating to Canada, she founded Cha Art Space and the AFA (Adult Fine Art group), integral parts of Toronto’s art community. A former President of the Korean Artists Society of Canada (2020–2021), she is an active member of WAAC and continues to mentor emerging artists. Her work has been shown in Canada, the U.S., and Korea, including Torrance Art Museum, Shatto Gallery, Joseph D. Carrier Art Gallery, Papermill Gallery, and Kwanhoon Art Hall. Her art, held in public and private collections such as KAFA, meditates on coexistence—between light and shadow, nature and technology, presence and absence—revealing that truth often lies in the Between.