Meet ShinYeon Moon | Illustrator & Educator

We had the good fortune of connecting with ShinYeon Moon and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi ShinYeon, why did you pursue a creative career?
Ever since I could remember I have been holding a pencil or brush in my hand and doodling away alone in a corner somewhere, so this career path felt like it was the most natural thing for me to move towards. There is a tradition in Korea called Doljabi where on your first birthday you select one object from a collection of items that have been laid out before you. That one selected item signifies the baby’s potential future/career path. On my first birthday, I selected the brush, which generally represents a scholarly life, but my family has always joked that it meant I would become an artist. My mom is a painter herself, and I feel like growing up, seeing her working on her pieces influenced me to do something creative with my own life. So it seems, not only was it written in the stars for me, but it was something that I inherited.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Art has always been a form of therapy for me, so turning it into a professional career has not been an easy task. Trusting and believing in myself to feel like my work deserves to be shared and seen out there in the world, is something that I still struggle with. But I am learning to see the value in sharing (especially the importance of being the voice of your own story) and giving your “art babies” a chance to breathe and expand outside of yourself and within the community and world at large. I will always genuinely believe that it is a miracle when people can create something out of nothing – because that “nothing” is actually a part of themselves they are gifting to the world and it is actually something rather honest and beautiful and brave.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I am a food-loving person, so we would first and foremost, have to check off some great places to eat depending on what they like – if it were up to me we would go to some great eats in Chinatown, K-town (in Flushing), and all of the ramen/noodle shops around the city. My go-to museum choices would be the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Frick Collection, and the Natural History Museum. My go-to parks would be Central Park, Brooklyn Bridge Park, and Greenwood Cemetery. We would also probably go on a bookstore tour – Strand bookstore, Bluestockings Cooperative, Kinokuniya, Greenlight Bookstore, Books Are Magic, and the Center for Fiction are a few of my favorites. Since coffee runs through my veins, we would also have to check out the many coffee shops scattered around as well (there are too many to list).

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would love to shoutout my family and friends, without whom I would most definitely not be where I am now – especially to the Jeon family, who grounded me and gave me their genuine love and support and the validation I needed to keep pursuing my dreams. My dear friend and life mentor, the lovely artist and muralist, Katie Yamasaki, who helped me to find my courage, the love for creating for the community, and gave me the inspiration and motivation to keep going in this industry. My incredible colleagues and the instructors at the School of Visual Art’s MFA Illustration as Visual Essay program, who really influenced my decision to stick with my work, find power in my vulnerability, and guided me to ‘draw what I love and what I know’. Without the support of my friends from that program, especially Helen Li, Meghan Templehof, Ignacio Serrano, Ryan Raphael, and Eugenia Mello, I would not have been able to have the bravery and resilience needed to continue moving forward. Last but not least, to my ride-or-die support system, my sibling, Jin, whose power, resilience and care never ceases to amaze me and continues to inspire me to do better.

Website: http://www.shinyeon-moon.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shinnyoni/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shinyeon-moon-74886472/