In her time here, Saelee Oh has constructed a miniature model of a neighborhood out of wood, found objects and scrapped items. She has painted walls and cut out intricate designs of trees, vines and the veins of a person holding onto them. In her house here, she is taking the installations already present and merging / repurposing them with her own. Recently, I sat down for a moment to chat with her. Here's a glimpse into our conversation: 

Jason Jaworski: What are your impressions of Detroit?

I like it.

What's your favorite thing about it?

Well, I really like this project that I'm working on, it's cool to work on something that's a break from just flat paintings or drawings, and I like the challenge of having to take this leap of faith to come here- I didn't really know what was going on, couldn't plan that much because I hadn't seen the spaces yet, so I had to just come here and go with it. Coming to a new space, you don't know what materials you're going to find, you don't know what materials are around, and it's been fun trying to respond to this neighborhood and the house and it's been inspiring to work with other artists that I like, making new friends... it's like summer camp, except way fucking cold. It's just been very inspiring and I hope to be able to share this with the community and it's fun to make something that's kind of permanent or semi-permanent like what we're doing inside these houses. 

Nice.

It's been a lot of fun- actually, honestly, I haven't had this much fun making art in a long time. It's been refreshing and I like that there's a new format for my pieces out here. I've been working more sculpturally, collaboratively and 3D as well as using other things that are around me like wheat-paste. Also, I've loosened up a lot.

Loosened up your work or your process?

My work. 

Do you think that's from being out here or just in general?

Being out here- I'm working looser, dirtier and I just don't give a fuck. (laughs) Just kidding. It's just a more spontaneous process than how I usually work and it's been a positive thing so far. 

Would you say your environment has a lot to do with how you're working then? Like do you think you'd be experimenting with all this found paper or these found objects? 

It does have a lot to do with how I'm working. I don't normally work with so many found objects- at home, I don't like to have things around, I really don't like to collect things because I travel so much. I prefer purging more than I do collecting.

The question people seem to be playing with is whether or not they're going to buy the house they're working on out here-

Honestly, I did fantasize about it and I'm still fantasizing about it, but I don't know if I would want the responsibility because I'm always traveling and not in one place. I'm kind of attached to my house and I want to buy this house just so that I can keep working on this project, keep adding to it and just building something continuously. It wouldn't be my living space though. I would be making something that's open to the public and community. 

Do you have a studio or a space like this right now where you can do things like this- make art and place it on the walls and so on?

No, no- and it's so cheap out here in Detroit! That's just part of the appeal. 

You think you'd like living out here with all the other artists?

I'd like living out here if it was exactly like how it has been this past week, and we were all friends forever. If I could eat at that shawarma place and get a cheap, delicious breakfast everyday. It's been fun being a part of a neighborhood. 

How is it working with the other artists?

It's been great, everybody here is a really hard worker, and it's been really fun.

Do you miss that? Having that energy in a studio with a bunch other artists doing a bunch of shit?

Yeah- I've been working solitary for the past two years or so, so being around other artists and watching them work has been a very special treat. Besides the other artists though, in Detroit, people just sort of tend to leave you alone. And actually, I really like it here in that I feel I don't belong here at all- I really like that feeling.

Feeling out of place?

Yeah, I love that feeling.

Is it the same feeling you get while traveling, like when you went to Argentina a few years ago?

Yeah, of course. This neighborhood is pretty crazy- we get to work long hours, many hours into the night, I don't really know of any other neighborhoods where you can do that- unless it's some far removed, lonely, industrial part of town. 

You're talking about how Ben's just sawing away at something while we're talking at 3am?

Yeah- we just use power tools at night, oh and I love the trees- it's fall, it's beautiful, I love the black squirrels-

Had you heard anything about Detroit previous to coming out here?

I actually heard pretty negative things.

Like what?

I heard there were a lot of murders out here and I thought that it was going to be pretty depressing with not much to offer, but now I see that there is a lot out here and a lot to offer- you just have to look for it. 

Yeah-

There's a lot of opportunity out here and there's a ghost town feeling surrounding the city, and for me that's a positive thing.

Do you prefer to work this loose and in a shorter time-frame like this or do you prefer something more structured and drawn out?

Both- I kind of need a short, concentrated period of time and I'm trying to take this time here that I have without taking it for granted and get everything that I can done. I'm also hoping that all the ambitions and ideas that I have for this house and project - I'm not going to be able to do all of it, so I'm hoping that one day in the future it'll work out to where I can come back and continue creating in this city and in this space.

You're talking about the ideas you were explaining previously? Like having a living garden inside the space?

Yeah, I wanted to make a living garden, which I can't do this time of year because it's not the right season. There's also a lot of stuff I want to have done to the outside of the house and I want to make the house more interactive so it's not just my own art project but something more welcoming for others. I want it to become a more participatory interactive project, with a mail project and other things. And there's just a lot of room in this house; there's a backyard, there's a front yard, a porch, the roof, the attic, the basement- everything has this huge potential of becoming something.

Did you have a concept coming into this thing? I remember you saying you wanted to do something like a flood-

That came after. I think when I first came I wanted to build something and I wanted it to be more functional, like a real house and I was trying to think more practically of a way where the art would not be in the way. I was thinking of designing furniture and things for a living space- but with the way the houses are, I think this works better. 

You thought the houses were going to be in better shape than they are?

Yeah, I thought they would be in better shape. Some of these houses need a lot of work put into them- plumbing, lighting and electrical work- it's going to be a long way and a lot more than we can do- but I think that what we're doing - the art - is very beneficial.

Have you had any talks with any of the people in the neighborhood?

Well, I'm kind of shy, so I haven't really been going out and talking with all the neighbors.

Have any people come up and commented about the project or the art you're making?

Yeah, they're curious, and I think it's a positive thing and it's good to see some life going on. I hear more from people like Mitch [Cope] or Harrison who talk to the neighbors.

Do you feel liket his project could be done anywhere else or is it more something that could only be done here in Detroit?

Well, the style of houses is definitely something that we're working with and responding to, and that's very specific to this neighborhood and Detroit, but there's a lot of small cities and spots around where you can get away with something like this. It's interesting- you can feel isolated here, but at the same time you're not too far removed from a normal thing that you would do in a city as opposed to a small place. 

What do you think of all the other artists and the houses they're working on?

Honestly, I'm rooting for everybody- I like all their concepts and ideas, the more people that are out here doing their thing, the better.

For more work by Saelee Oh, including details on her new print release, check out her site - here. 

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Photographs by Tod Seelie

Words by Jason Jaworski

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