We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Shorenay Kong. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Shorenay below.

Hi Shorenay, thanks for joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

Ever since I started getting into crochet 5 years ago, I became enamored with it. I would crochet for full days straight learning every possible stitch and skill required to create all sorts of projects. When my skill levels got better, I had this idea to release creative collections that include fashion designs and patterns. Each collection follows a theme and story. So far, I came out with two major collections. The first one is called Dreamland released in 2021 followed up with the sequel collection called Dark Night of the Soul released in 2023. I’m currently working on the third installment which will make the collection a trilogy.

Dreamland is a collection about connecting and healing your inner child. It’s a fantasy world I conjured up about escapism and maladaptive daydreaming. This was in reaction to the quarantine Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. I felt like we all needed a little bit of an escape from reality so I wanted to create that world with crochet. At the same time, crochet was started to become a trending hobby. New styles and designs were developing. I was part of a community of creatives who were contributing to this growing world. I chose a pastel color palette for the yarns and I crocheted dreamy designs in all clothing and accessories category. I would make crop tops and cardigans with stars, moons, rainbows, clouds, and florals.

I also collaborated with my creative friends with photoshoots that capture the essence of Dreamland. I’m particularly proud of a Venus-inspired photoshoot I did with my photographer friend Victoria Sanchez. She photographed me in a pearl shell crochet bralette paired with an intricate lace long skirt and pink wig that I wore at Laguna Beach. It was everything that I wanted for a Venus-inspired shoot. This era was significant for me because it was the renaissance of a new community online that I helped crafted. There were a lot of firsts for me with this collection that opened doors for me to becoming an influencer and artist. It also got me to connect with my inner child for the first time. I was starting this journey of finding my artistic voice and identity. So it will always hold a special place in my heart.

After the Dreamland era ended in 2022, I took a long break and started brainstorming the sequel collection. My second collection Dark Night of the Soul began it’s release in 2023 spanning the entire year. Each collection takes about a year to promote and post all of the designs. This collection was my biggest one so far. I had ambitious goals that I wanted to achieve with this collection. I started my Youtube channel, launched a website, and sold crochet cardigan patterns during this era. I cemented myself as a social media influencer during this time. Dark Night of the Soul is a concept about a crisis of faith and losing one’s spirituality. I wanted to capture that in the collection in three acts. The three acts are split into three time periods from ancient, middle ages, and modern age. It’s a timeline of fashion history that reflected each era.

I made unique designs which included underrated crochet stitches like the mosaic stitch. One design I am particularly proud of is my Gothic Vampire cardigan. It captured the dark essence of medieval goths. I also like vampires. The distinct ancient aesthetics transformed over time as colonization and globalization took over. This collection reflects my journey with my Asian-American identity: from connecting to my ancestral heritage, struggling with Western assimilation, to the realization about who I am that isn’t tied to pre-existing cultural norms. I enjoyed learning history as I was making this collection. The results in the end helped me figure out my true self as an artist.

I explained a lot about my creative process when it comes to designing these collections on my blog and Youtube video essays. You can check it out on my social media websites. The last installment to the trilogy of my collection will be released very soon.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am the sole owner and creative behind loveshorestudio. I run a fiber arts small business that sell crochet and knit products as well as digital patterns for my designs. Common products I sell are cardigans, sweaters, hats, tops, and occasionally amigurumi. Crochet is a very flexible fiber art medium. You can craft anything you want with it. There’s a diversity of skills and shops in the community that specialize in the areas they like. I have tried almost every craft out there to diversify my skills. However, I enjoy releasing creative collections and creating photoshoot content for it. Now a days, I create Youtube content for my craft.

I have a lot of experience being a small business owner for 5 years. In the beginning, I would have huge order amounts that I had to fulfill all over the world. I learned a lot about customer service, quality packaging, international shipment, COGS, etc. Thankfully, I have an accounting degree and specialize in taxes. So I am able to approach my business from that knowledge and experience. I like to think my brain is split into two: my business brain and my artist brain. My business brain is my upbringing where I had to focus on practical matters. When I am not working on anything creative, I am gone during tax season. I have a tax-preparer license and work at EA Tax Pros LLC.

After 5 years selling and shipping out products, I have been moving towards being a content creator. I want to grow an audience for my artwork and see where that takes me. I do dream about having a fashion show, pop-up, or creating art installations. I want to get in the textile industry. This is where my artist brain comes into play. I enjoy being creative and I love the process of it. It’s my passion for life. There’s a lot of learning that I am open to when it comes to the art world.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

Once you’re an artist, you’re an artist for life. Being creative is the natural state of our soul. It’s a birthright. Not many people are fortunate enough to use that creative source inside of them. This is why healing the inner child exercise helps people access that creative source. I can’t speak for every circumstance out there because people suffer from mental & physical illness, loss, disabilities, trauma, crisis, poverty, or war. Personally for me, being Cambodian-American meant learning about the Khmer Rouge that gave Cambodians generational trauma. These circumstances can hinder or dissolve our creativity. I had to do a lot of healing to get to a place where I can access that creativity. I find that as long as you want to be creative, there will always be a way. Throughout history, there have been famines and war but art movements still manage to thrive. Art is the voice of the people. It will always overcome obstacles. That’s the beauty of it’s resilience.

Besides that, I’ve dealt with people that don’t understand what it’s like to have an artist brain because they don’t exercise creativity in their life. This doesn’t mean they are wrong. Sometimes, people are in a career field that is plain logic. There’s no room for creativity. But with people like this, if they have a creative hobby, they will create time for it. Then, there are people who simply have no interest in art. It’s a perspective they chose and whether they are open to art or not, that’s up to the individual. There are people who consume art and are fans of art. I do enjoy being part of fandoms too. There are also critics and reviewers that formulate an opinion on art which is 50/50 for me because I like to have my own interpretation. However, some people rely on those opinions to tell them how to interpret art.

One thing I try to lessen is being a perfectionist and boxing myself in rigid rules of art. This is hard to do if you’re seeking external validation. This is why molding and shaping one’s own talent and skill is a journey. At some point, you have to break free and be who you truly are as an artist. You eventually have to find your own identity. I don’t want to be someone who only copies works of the past. I want to pave my own path and express my true self. Art is all about perspective. It could be personal or a commentary about the state of the world. There are times where you have to separate the art from the artist. People tend to forget that artists are human beings too. We are all prone to flaws and mistakes.

Artists tend to have a different perspective than normal people with everyday societal responsibilities. I mean, artists can have that same everyday responsibility too. But we have to balance it with the need for self-expression and creativity. Once you have a connection to your creativity, you will interact with the world differently. Inspiration is what is sought after. Superficial societal standards or surface-level interactions are not desired. People spend their entire lives like sheep in a herd following expectations given to them. From the media you consume, the music you listen to, the movies you watch, the cloths you wear, the food you eat, the furniture you have, how you perceive this world, all these ideas were once thought of by someone creative. Art ties to all forms of thought like religion, philosophy, and science. Once you start to think for yourself and develop your own taste, you get more confidence to live a life for you. Life will have more depth.

Art reflects your soul. Anyone can be creative.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

I notice I tend to consume all of these differently than most. I enjoy reading and watching essays on how people interpret artwork, especially film and shows. I’m the type of person that will listen to a whole breakdown of an album from inception to completion. I like to pick at other creative’s brain. I want to know how they create their art. It’s fascinating to me. When you create your own art, you have a deeper appreciation for the effort that goes into making any art. This relates to all mediums. For example, I connect to culinary artists because my mother loves to cook. I would watch chefs and understand where their mind goes when creating a dish.

I have a variety of taste in everything so I don’t try to box myself or be an elitist. However, I do not like anything that’s too manufactured or lack substance. I love authenticity where artists are creating their own art rather than have it created for them. It’s strange to me how normalize manufactured art is for popular consumption. When a certain aesthetic goes trendy, I just think it’s the general population’s surface level understanding of it. It’s palatable for consumption.

I try to pick up a book and start researching into any topic to get a better understanding of the world. I read the book the Artist’s Way and The Creative Act: A Way of Being when I go through creative blocks. I’ve read academic psychology books such as The Body Keeps Score to understand trauma. I read history articles and social justice articles to keep up with the world news. I’m also into spirituality and topics about the universe, physics, and metaphysics as well. Other than that, I have various collections of books on artists and fashion designers throughout history such as the Leonardo Da Vinci, Michaelangelo, Claude Monet, Vogue and The Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute: Parties, Exhibitions, People, etc. I love learning about various topics.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.loveshore.co
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/loveshorestudio
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61557457396577
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@loveshorestudio
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@loveshorestudio
  https://www.threads.net/@loveshorestudio
  https://www.pinterest.com/loveshorestudio

Image Credits

Photography by Victoria Sanchez for the first photo.