Meet Eunjoo Kang | Ceramic artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Eunjoo Kang and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Eunjoo, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
Risks can be an opportunities. Not always but if the risk pushes me to get out of my comfort zone to get more opportunities, chances and visions I should take it.

Moving to Colorado can be a good example how the risk becomes an opportunity. It was April, 2019 when was the time Coronavirus pandemic just started spreading in all around the world. We lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma and my husband, Tony had been having an interview for a better company and a better position. He wasn’t intentionally applied to a company in Colorado but one of recruiter told him and suggested about a position in Colorado. So he applied and had an interview for more like an experience for him. Surprisingly he got an offer. His whole family live in a same town we were living. His family, of course, didn’t want us to move far. And we didn’t also want to move far from his family. Specially I am from South Korea and I am the only one in the US in my family. So I could get most supports from my husband’s family. We didn’t want to lose supports from his family. AND Covid just conquered the world! Just think about moving is already a huge stress but we were moving to another state in Coronavirus pandemic. It could be a crazy move for anyone at that time. But I and my husband thought what if this is an opportunity, not a risk. We knew that we would need to start from a zero ground without friends and family. But Colorado is definitely bigger city surrounded by a beautiful environment. We would be able to be exposed to more resources and opportunities that we all want to explore. My husband and I saw more brightness than darkness in this. And now it has been almost 5 years. We are settled down well. I would like to say our decision was right. My small work space in a garage became a studio-shed. And now I am a member of Boulder potters’ guild and a member of East Boulder County Artist and I am continuously seeking for more opportunities help me expose my art work to the world.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am a painter, potter, sculptor and ceramic artist who is rooted in Longmont and Boulder area. I love to paint and make pots, cups, plates and sculptures with clay. I currently started an online pottery shop at Etsy and I participate three to four local art sales in a year with my potters’ guild and a local artist group. In my childhood, I loved drawing and always had a curiosity about art and crafts and people who does arts. Back in the days in South Korea, there was some technologies but like computers or screens weren’t the thing everyone could have or afford. Thank to the lack of technology, I could explore more of arts. Just whenever I had a time, kept sketching and painting and sculpting with a bar soap or mud. All those moments carried me to a Ceramic art degree in the University. After I graduated from the University, I came to the U.S for taking an ESL(English Second Language) course for getting a job. Long story shortly, I met my husband in the U.S while I was in the language course and I ended up staying in the U.S. I finished a language course but it was still hard to communicate to someone and it was hard to settle down as a foreigner here. Since it wasn’t the plan to stay in the U.S, I was not quite ready for living here, the foreign country to me . I was shameful that I couldn’t speak or understand like American do and I was shameful that I could’t think like American do. There was a time that a darkness around me. I didn’t want to meet people. I felt myself was like a tiny rock in a desert. Thankfully the art was such a wonderful get-a-way, great therapy for lifting up myself. The art, Clay work, Ceramic art doesn’t require me to speak. Just my hands lead to what I think, what it is in my head. And slowly I realize how I am different and what I am capable for a ceramic art in a different way and I also realize that the difference of myself is not shameful. I am thankful that I am living the world recognize and respect how we all are different more and more. I still have a fear to talk to people and have a moment shameful myself by speaking Ko-nglish(Not perfect English Korean speaks) but the difference between now and before is I can connect with people through my art. It is so priceless whenever people feel what I pour into my piece.
I love to hike and be surrounded by nature so I get lots of inspiration from the nature such as animals like bears, foxes and elks. They can be wonderful eye-catching part for pottery. Also I like to build faces with smile on my pieces which I remember from my grandma and my mother used to smile at me. Such a strong people who worked so hard from the morning to the night for family but still smiled at me because they wish me the best, wish me to be loved. Through my art work, I wish people also feel that warmness of love in their lives.
I recently am having more chances to show and share my art. Last year, 2023, I had an art show at Union station in Denver and an Art show at Pearl street in Boulder. Also thankfully, I joined more Artist groups. It is a great change because I and members share such a great tips and advises that I can apply to my work right away and it wonderfully works. And it is always so much fun to spend time with amazing artists.
My goal and my wish in my art career now is that I want to connect to people more and more through my work. I wish My work reminds that we still can smile even though things don’t go what we expected. I wish my art works lead to the warmness around us.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If someone is visiting CO, first of all I would recommend to visit national parks Colorado has. Rocky Mountain national park, Mesa Verde national park, Great Sand Dunes national park and Black Canyon of the Gunnison national park. It might be a quite long trip, might be tired but you won’t forget how great the mother nature is.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Boulder Potters’ guild. It is a non-profit organization in Boulder, Colorado. All members are such wonderful people with wisdom and kindness. If I need to pick one person, it would be Barbara K.M. Flocke. She is my one and only buddy at the guild. She is an amazing artist and also Assistant Director for Curriculum and Instruction • Assistant Teaching Professor at CU International English center. She is very patient and kindest person I ever known. Thank to all members and remarkable facility of the guild, I have grown in a pottery art ground a lot in a wonderful way.

Website: www.ejpottery.com

Instagram: instagram.com/ejstudio

Other: etsy.com/shop/EJpotteryStudio