I am observing and experiencing diverse cultures through my frequent moves in life. I have moved from the small town of DaeGu to Seoul, South Korea, to Iowa, to Washington DC, and now to Atlanta. This unsettling experience has allowed me to visualize places where different dreams and opposing themes can coexist in my work. I started out combining East meets West themes, this process has continued and become more complex and layered.
I try to show contrast between worlds that are near and far, fast and slow, spontaneous and deliberate in my work. Worlds teeming with ideas, full of old and new. I am developing and carrying a lexicon of mark making. Loaded with meaning, my marks symbolize the diversity and identity of the various worlds I live in.
Living in different neighborhoods, observing diverse cultures has become an important element. I am a Korean who used to live in a Hispanic / Korean neighborhood in the Washington DC suburbs. I now live in a young, popular, urban neighborhood in Atlanta, the heart of the Deep South. When I visit Korea I feel that I have become an Americanized Korean. When I am back in the States, I feel that I am more of a traditional Korean. My identity tends to shift and overlap, which strongly affects the imagery. I am a cartographer of cultures and an icon maker in my lucid worlds. I want to be a visual interpreter of the mixed cultural world of my generation.
-Jiha Moon
Website
http://www.jihamoon.com
