Photograph by Bailey Garrot
When you dine at Mujo, the person plating your sushi might be the same person who made the plate—if the chef is Gusan Jang, who created about 500 pieces of ceramicware for the Westside restaurant. While the food commands most of the attention, it’s hard not to notice how beautiful the serving vessels are; Jang made plates, bowls, even the restaurant’s sake cups and chopstick rests. “My aesthetic is very heavily influenced by Japanese antique ceramics and Korean ceramics,” he says.
In 2019, Jang was working in the kitchen at Eleven Madison Park in New York when, seeking a creative outlet, he began taking a ceramics class at the 92nd Street Y. When he moved to Atlanta, he joined MudFire studio in Decatur before building a studio at home.
Photograph by Bailey Garrot
The order from Mujo was his first—and, so far, only. “I’m still trying to find my voice as a ceramics artist, so I’m still in the experimental stage,” he says. “Sushi and ceramics are my two passions in life. One is gone in an instant and one, if treated properly, will last eons. I love that interplay.”
This article appears in our October 2022 issue.
