Ceramic artist Cho Hee-jin has an atelier in a building in Tongui-dong. As classical music plays at a low volume, she silently kneads clay and fires it in a small kiln.
"I graduated from art school and had a variety of experiences, but I couldn't find what I wanted to do in Korea's competitive society and just wanted to live. So I returned to pottery and became absorbed in my work."
His works and collected pottery are lined up in an orderly fashion. 
"I just pile it up without any intention of what shape it will take, and when a shape emerges, I accept it," says Heejin.
She creates shapes by layering tiny particles, without drawing up any particular blueprints. She is sensitive to the invisible, such as natural phenomena and her own emotions, and injects them into the clay. Then, like cells multiplying, her work takes shape.
"Clay dries as you touch it, and when you bake it, its color and shape change. You always have to accept unexpected results. But that's what makes it difficult and interesting. Clay is the only material that you can touch and transform with your hands, and into which you can put emotion."
