We were lucky to catch up with Se Young Au recently and have shared our conversation below.
Se Young, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
Currently, my creative partner Kaitlyn Darby and I are working on a public art project called Reflections with the city of Los Angeles. We are reimagining a sensory garden and co-designing it with students from the Braille Institute.
The experience thus far has been deeply meaningful. We have made connections with the students who are immensely talented. This project speaks to our ethos as a creative studio. We love collaboration and facilitating multi-sensory experiences that people can immerse themselves in.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Se Young Au and I am an artist. My work is situated between digital collage, sculpture and olfaction. I recently launched a sensory design studio, Errare, with my creative partner, Kaitlyn Darby.
Our practice includes object making, digital components, sensory cues, and ephemera to create multi-dimensional spaces and experiences. These responsive environments create dialogue between humanness, technology, and the natural world.
Our ethos is shaped by quantifying time and space through the use of both the earthly and abstract. We assign value to slowness, the intangible, and finding ways to extend the breadth within moments.
We offer a range of comprehensive design services ranging from the creation of conceptual narratives to large-scale design projects. We collaborate with chefs, artists, fabricators, landscape designers, and architects. For site-specific activations we have the ability to design the scent, sound, and tactile aspects of an environment to create distinct, immersive, and affecting experiences.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
Kaitlyn (Darby) and I were introduced through mutual friends that she attended college with. We both had lived in New York at similar times and ended up in LA within a year of each other. It was a pretty instantaneous connection but we didn’t start our creative collaborative work until a few years into our friendship.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
Our practice is rooted in expansive power of worldbuilding. Our work prioritizes intentional slowness and is also interactive. We believe in the transportive ability of sensory experiences and our position our works as offerings for people to find respite in.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.errare.world (design studio), www.senses-studio.com (personal)
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/errare.studio/