Born in the U.S. and raised in South Korea, designer Nina Cho is an up-and-coming talent with a singular aesthetic and definitive design philosophy.

1. Coulee Side Table

For Cho, what isn't there is as palpable and impactful as what is. This presence of negativity is informed by her Korean ancestry: "It's about respecting the emptiness as much as the object... through practicing the beauty of the void, I can respect not only the object itself but also the negative space that object created."

2. Cantilever Table

The idea of emptiness manifests in multiple ways within Cho's work. The Curved Chair, for instance, employs a single sheet of molded plastic to create a comparatively vast concavity, establishing seat, back, and arms in a single gesture. The base-a matching pair of welded steel triangles set perpendicular to each other-also emphasizes light volumes.

3. Curved Chair

Cho expresses unusual versatility for a young designer. In addition to chairs and tables, she has also created accessories and lighting. The Constructivist Mirror Series references Constructivism, the early 20th. Century movement that prioritized an object's materiality and spatial presence: "in combining different proportions of geometry, I wanted my mirrors to display a rich harmony and simplicity of materiality."

4. Constructivist Mirror Series

In, Side Table exhibits a similar interest in the juxtaposition of simple geometric forms. In this piece, a wooden side table and humble paper lamp effortlessly coexist. The tabletop is easily removed to reveal the lamp's upper surface, transforming essential function while providing additional illumination.

5. In, Side Table

Womb Lighting also plays with essential forms. This innovative wall lamp made of slip-cast porcelain evokes the female reproductive system and birth-recontextualizing this most elemental of biological processes in a surprising and enthralling way, "a surreal moment with a unique form which protrudes from the wall to give light."

6. Womb Lighting

Nina Cho has exhibited widely at shows in the U.S., Europe, and Seoul, including London Design Festival, Montalcino Design Week, and First Things First at New York City Design Week. She was named an Honoree on Sight Unseen's 2015 American Design Hot List and featured as one of Five Breakout Designers of 2015 in Artsy.

Cho is based in Detroit. For additional information, see Nina Cho.