Today, Atlanta-based artist Jiha Moon gave an opening reception for her exhibition at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Arts.
The exhibit samples the breadth of Moon’s works in all media, with over fifty works showcasing her ceramic works, her paintings, and her print collages all extensively.
A South Korean native, many of Moon’s works challenge Western stereotypes and preconceptions of East Asian culture.
“I possibly try to find any notion of Asia that typically Western people would think of, so I’m not just using Chinese or Japanese style,” Moon said. “I just imagine, ‘what could be Asian signature style?’”
Moon’s painted works juxtapose traditional religious or otherwise historical Asian imagery, such as dragons or Indian gods, with ubiquitous modern iconography, such as emoji or Twitter birds.
This clashing of lowbrow and highbrow symbolism is intended to confront the human tendency to detach or “other” themselves from people of different cultures, whether Asian or “Western.”
Moon said she is fond of using the color brown in her artwork, citing its symbolic resonance,
“I love the brown paper. It sort of showcases a classic quality. It’s something old, something very anqtique…I think of old paintings or books, and the smell of that, and it’s just really calming, and also really excites me,” Moon said. “I know, a lot of kids, brown is not their favorite color, but for me, Brown is honoring old age.”
The exhibition began on January 21st and will continue through April 30th.
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