Terri Chiao and her partner Adam Frezza share a love for art. Their sculptures, paintings and drawings have been displayed at Coachella, Palaia, Italy, the Catskills and New York City. Parents to 7-year-old daughter Tove Chiaozza, the Brooklyn couple was recently inspired to create Charm Harbour sculpture park on Hoboken’s waterfront. The seven installations are meant to look like whimsical charms or magic tokens that’ll inspire physical and mental play. We asked Terri about how she took this stunning and momentous project from idea to reality.
New Jersey Family: When did your love of art begin?
Terri Chiao: I’ve enjoyed drawing and making things since I was a child growing up in Atlanta. I remember being inspired by Maurice Sendak and Dr. Seuss illustrations, Monet’s impressionist paintings, my dad’s Louis Armstrong cassettes, Garfield comics and cartoons, Miyazaki films, claymation, and more.
My parents and grandparents had sumi ink brush paintings on the walls so that painting style was often in my periphery as a child. I spent a lot of time drawing, building little shrines, crafting and baking with my mom in the kitchen.
My parents also brought my brother and me to many great cultural venues and national parks. I think my love of art grew hand-in-hand with my love of nature and making things.
DAVID SEPA
New Jersey Family: How did you get into sculpture?
TC: My love of sculpture in particular comes from a love of architecture and public art, as well as folk art, much of which is made by hand using simple materials. Sculpture and architecture have the ability to shift and expand how we see and experience the space and material around us.
New Jersey Family: What was the inspiration behind Charm Harbour, named for its waterfront location, in Hoboken? Tell us about the creative process.
TC: “Charm Harbour” is a seven-sculpture installation at Maxwell Place Park along the waterfront that has a beautiful view of the Hudson River and Manhattan, with the sculptures located on a grassy lawn near a small beach cove. The structure and shape of the sculptures are somewhat ambiguous and were formed by imagining how the human body can interact with the sculptural forms. They were also made to look a little like game pieces, as though they fell out of the satchel of a mythical giant.
We made dozens of little clay models and selected a set of seven shapes to develop in more detail. The material is CNC-milled in high-density urethane foam, patched and primed, and painted in enamel paints used in sign painting and on automobiles.
These sculptures were originally commissioned by Downtown Somerville, with the stewardship of Weingarten Art Group, in 2022. When they moved to Hoboken, we used the months leading up to the installation as an opportunity to consider new colors, titles and compositions that responded to the new site.
New Jersey Family: Can you explain the interactive element of this sculpture?
TC: We love that the curious forms of the sculptures may encourage people to explore them up close, at times climbing carefully or perching atop them, almost the way one might interact with a piece of driftwood or a large boulder on a beach. Negotiating space and material with our bodies can be a beautiful way to exercise our creative muscles – physically, mentally, and spiritually. Respectful engagement is encouraged, as they are still works of art and are sensitive to damage from rough engagement.
New Jersey Family: What are your biggest artistic influences? How did Hoboken inspire your art?
TC: The Bauhaus has been a big inspiration for me. It combines craft, fine art, architecture, design, performance and other forms of creative expression through a unique balance of play and construction. Emerging in the early 1900s, many Bauhaus artists and designers responded to the freedom of expression and the new construction possibilities of modernism.
In a similar vein, I remember learning the phrase “gesamtkunstwerk” (or “total work of art”) in Modern Architecture class in college, and it continues to resonate with me – the idea that a creation can utilize many different art forms and mediums to create an all-encompassing environment, feeling and experience.
In the case of “Charm Harbour,” Hoboken’s riverside parks are inspiring in their feeling of openness and freshness – when we visit, we want to run and leap and turn our faces to the sun.
New Jersey Family: How involved is your 7-year-old daughter in your art?
TC: Tove has grown up in our studio since she was a baby. Adam and I are usually together, and we share childcare responsibilities. We made sure to build spaces for Tove in our studio so we could all be together when working.
When Tove was very little, she sat in a bouncer chair and watched us build sculptures or make paintings. When she started crawling, we built a safe loft in the studio with big paper on the wall so we could all draw freely on the walls. We moved studios when she was about 4, and in the new studio, we built a small living room with lots of toys, books, and materials around to build things with. She also has a desk and access to lots of art supplies and scrap materials.
Sometimes, Tove sees so much of our creative process that she can give tours of our work and describe how things were made; other times, she offers feedback on colors and shapes which is very insightful.
New Jersey Family: What’s next for your art in 2025?
TC: On the horizon are more sculptures, paintings, drawings, models, collages and shows! The year has already started with some prospects that would take us around the globe, so stay tuned.
New Jersey Family: Where are your favorite places to see art in New Jersey?
TC: We have primarily seen art in New Jersey when we are invited to install art there, whether it’s in a public space like Maxwell Place Park, or a private commission in someone’s home, and we’d love to explore more places to see art throughout the state.
We listen to WBGO all the time, which is an incredible jazz station broadcast out of Newark, and Mana Contemporary has been on our radar for a while – we’d like to make a visit sometime.
We love that cities like Hoboken and Somerville are prioritizing public art, supporting artists, and encouraging art appreciation.
New Jersey Family: Where are your favorite things to do as a family in NYC and NJ?
TC: We love going to parks, gardens, museums and movie houses. In our home city of New York, some favorite places include Central Park, Brooklyn Botanic Garden and Prospect Park, the MoMA, The Nitehawk, The Natural History Museum, and McCarren Park. In New Jersey, we love the Palisades and Delaware Water Gap.
Charm Harbour will be on view at Maxwell Place Park in Hoboken through the spring.
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