“Creating My Own Table”
An Interview with Studio Kōlea Artist Ezgi Iraz
(From the series “Resting in Mu‘umu‘u”)
Photography by Megumi Kean, First Friday Hale’iwa 2025
Q: What inspired your series, Resting in Mu‘umu‘u?
It began with Anne of Green Gables. I loved how Anne dreamed inside her small attic room, with one flower and one brown dress — she reminded me that imagination can survive anything.
When I moved to Hawai‘i, I saw the mu‘umu‘u and learned how it carries the story of Hawaiian women — resistance, beauty, and freedom. For me, it became a symbol of rest, of honoring women who have carried too much.
In Turkic culture, we say “Heaven lies beneath the feet of a mother.” I paint to remember that truth — that women deserve peace, softness, and rest, not exhaustion disguised as strength.
Photography by Megumi Kean, First Friday Hale’iwa 2025
Q: You’ve mentioned rejection from Hawai‘i’s art institutions — how did that shape you?
When I first arrived, I applied for creative positions — at museums, trusts, orchestras — and kept hearing no. Not as a painter, but as a designer and creative professional who had already worked with global brands.
I had years of experience at LEGO’s design base in Denmark and international awards behind me. Still, the doors didn’t open. And that was my turning point.
Eventually, I found a home at Polu Gallery, where I started as a sales associate. The gallery owner, Jun Yoshimura, quickly recognized my skills in marketing and creative direction. Within months, I became the gallery’s creative director, curator, and event coordinator, helping organize several successful exhibitions — many of them sold out.
After gaining that invaluable experience, I made the decision to step away from Polu to focus fully on building my own business — and to nurture a dream that’s been with me since childhood: owning my own gallery someday.
That vision became Studio Kōlea — a space for artists who feel unseen, between worlds, or ready to define success on their own terms.
At its heart, this journey is about joy — making my inner child proud, the little brown girl with big hair who always dreamed of being an artist, and now gets to live that dream freely.
May 1991, Ezgi Iraz’s first reward from a painting competition
Photography by Megumi Kean, First Friday Hale’iwa 2025
Q: What did those rejections teach you?
That rejection is redirection — and sometimes, realignment and protection.
As an immigrant woman of color and a mother returning to my creative field, I learned that the world doesn’t always recognize your value right away. But that doesn’t mean you’ve lost it.
Those moments pushed me to define success on my own terms — to build a practice where my art, my motherhood, and my heritage could coexist freely and fully. I realized I didn’t need to fit into existing systems; I could create my own ecosystem.
And I’m genuinely happy with what I’ve built. Studio Kōlea has become a living example of that vision — a space born from courage, creativity, and love. Out of that grew the Kōlea Circle, a community for artists who are walking similar paths — where we share stories, resources, and flight.
Now, I’m looking forward to connecting with more artists who carry that same fire, and to continuing to grow this creative circle together.
Q: Why the name Studio Kōlea?
The kōlea bird migrates between Hawai‘i and Siberia — the same region my Turkic ancestors came from. It’s my mirror: a traveler between worlds.
So the studio became a bridge — between Altai and Ka‘ala, between stories, cultures, and hearts.
As Rumi said, “Come, come, whoever you are.” That’s our philosophy.
Photography by Megumi Kean, First Friday Hale’iwa 2025
Q: What message do you hope your work gives?
Rest is given.
To every woman of color, every immigrant artist, every creative who has ever felt unseen — I see you. You deserve to rest, to create without permission, and to be celebrated simply for being here.
That’s what Studio Kōlea and the Kōlea Circle are all about — a living space for stories to take flight, for art to find its home, and for each of us to remember that rest, joy, and creation are our birthrights.
The Kōlea Circle
A creative collective for immigrant, indigenous, and local artists of Hawai‘i.
The Kōlea Circle is a creative collective centering women, immigrant, local and Indigenous artists in Hawai‘i — cultivating connection, collaboration, and creative visibility so every artist’s voice is seen, heard, and celebrated.
✶ Sign up to join the first circle and be part of a growing creative community where stories take flight.
Q: What’s next for you?
On October 21, under the New Moon in Libra, I’ll open Resting in Mu‘umu‘u for online sale — including original paintings and limited-edition giclée prints — a new chapter for me, and hopefully, for everyone who sees themselves in these stories.