Artists’ Statement

From the Introduction to “Back Alleys and Urban Landscapes”:

For as long as can I remember, I’ve been drawing. And for most of that time, my interest was in drawing people. I think it was because the human figure had more interesting lines and rhythms and was what I related to, while buildings and houses and streets were just something I broke out my ruler to draw.
When I set out to become an illustrator, I knew I had to fix that apathy. I’d always appreciated good landscape painting and how it could evoke a sense of place and emotion, but I had been a city dweller all my life and had never been able to draw a pastoral scene with any real conviction. What I know are city streets and alleyways. So when I decided to sketch and paint some landscapes to further my artistic knowledge, that’s what I chose as my subject.
Although I wasn’t born here, I’ve lived in Toronto longer than I’ve lived anywhere else in my life and it’s the city I love and call home. I’ve always felt comfortable living downtown. I’d often cut through the alleyways here on the way home on a summer night or during a walk to clear my head on a spring day. They’re familiar places, quiet and often hidden in plain sight. I think when you know a city, you know its back alleys. It’s like a house: the dining room is in the front to show to guests, while the real living goes on in the kitchen in the back.
This book is a collection of many of the sketches, drawings and paintings I did in the course of my learning. They were done over a 5 year period, from 2006-2011, when I’d find time in-between freelance commitments to relax and work on something personal. They were done in all kinds of media; watercolour, gouache, ink, markers and coloured dyes to name a few.
The sketches evolved and became more complex as I quickly developed a real love for drawing these places. They remain fascinating to me, full of the same rhythms and organic qualities that I missed before, and I enjoyed trying to document their details. But there are also certain emotional qualities to some of the locations depicted in this book, especially during certain seasons, that I find difficult to put into words, but which I find compelling and inspirational. These drawings and paintings are my small attempt to transcribe some of those qualities onto paper.

Michael Cho
Toronto, 2011