Chatting with Gillian Kayrooz and Harry Jun, in a sunlit corner of their Sydney apartment, it’s easy to see how the two creatives were drawn to one another. Perfectly in sync, their answers reveal they’re more than just partners – they’re each other’s favourite audience.
Jun, a comedian and cartoonist who hosts, writes and produces content for ABC Gamer, and co-hosts SBS podcast Say Kimchi, was manning the door at Sydney Comedy Lounge four years ago when he first met western Sydney artist Kayrooz.
He remembers she was holding a yoghurt drink as she entered to see the show. “She thought I wouldn’t let her in,” he says, laughing. “But I wasn’t about to turn her away. She was with the headliner. I said, ‘Bring the drink. Sell them at the venue for all I care.’ And that was that.”
Kayrooz and Jun later connected on a dating app, finding it less intimidating to match with someone they’d already met. Their first date was at a local Thai restaurant, where they bonded over a love of mango sticky rice, and the two have been together ever since.
“One of the first things he said to me when we matched on the apps was, ‘Is it Gillian with a g for garage, or j as in jambalaya?’” Kayrooz tells Broadsheet. It wasn’t a great pick-up line, “But it worked,” says Jun.
The couple shares a love of food, which has played a key role in strengthening their relationships with each other’s families. Kayrooz loves the banchan (side dishes) made by Jun’s mother when she visits from Korea. Jun relishes being part of the big Lebanese celebrations with Kayrooz’s family. He’s also learning to make warak enab (vine leaves) – her favourite dish.
The pair like to crank out a portable butane gas stove at home, with a special samgyupsal (pork belly) grill plate, for Korean barbeque. And they fondly recall one of their first dates at the Mandoo in Strathfield. “I still remember Harry hyping this place up, and now we have their menu on our bedside table”, says Kayrooz. “We love the handmade dumplings and Korean hand-cut noodles with rich beef broth.”
Kayrooz was recently awarded the 2024 NSW Visual Arts Fellowship, a $30,000 prize to support her practice. She works with screen art, photo media and video installations, and her pieces explore connections to place, while challenging cultural stereotypes. In fact, Jun features in Kayrooz’s fellowship-winning video piece, Leave your shoes at the door, currently on display at Artspace.
“I was thinking about this idea of routine and ritual, and why we take our shoes off, who we’re taking our shoes off for, and that kind of understanding of respect and gratitude,” she says. “I feel a deep gratitude for travel, for the idea of migration, of lineages within families and generations, because it’s so embedded in my life. I’ve often captured places and people that I’ve grown up around and that have held meaning for me.”
The couple have found a happy balance with their artistic personalities, navigating their careers and personal growth together. “It can be grim out there for a creative person, especially going back to live shows after lockdown, so it’s nice to have someone who is an artist themselves, and someone who understands what motivates you,” says Jun. “We keep each other in check but also empower each other.”
Jun appreciates the way Kayrooz’s art navigates culture and identity. “When building your community, you need to ask yourself, ‘Who is this for?’ It’s not just self-serving, it’s for us to see our community, have them look at us and understand that’s where we come from. Both Gill and I try to centre that in our work.”
Read more in our Creative Couples series.
