ShinYeon Moon in conversation with Sophia Stopper
April 1, 2024
Home, 2020
Digital
SS: Wow, Shin, it is wonderful to get the chance to pick your colorful imagination! Please introduce yourself. What has been your creative journey in life since leaving New York University BFA as an undergraduate?
SM: So nice to catch up with you Sophia! It’s been an up and down roller-coaster for sure. I ended up getting an MFA in Illustration as Visual Essay at the School of Visual Arts and have been artist assisting and attempting freelance life ever since. Currently, I also teach BFA at the School of Visual Arts and the Fashion Institute of Technology.
Happy Plant, 2023
Digital
SS: I didn’t realize you were an educator! That’s inspiring to know you do that in addition to your freelance career. I’m familiar with the illustrations you made for Laolao’s Dumplings. Please describe your experience working on Children’s Book Illustrations. What was the subject matter of these books? How did you bring them to life with your drawings?
SM: The children’s book world is a very collaborative one, and so far every single team I have worked with has been overwhelmingly supportive and encouraging and I feel very lucky to be able to contribute to it. It was so nice to come into this latest book project titled, Laolao’s Dumplings, with the manuscript beautifully written by the talented Dane Liu. She so wonderfully talked about food, community, and intergenerational relationships, so the images seemed to flow out during the sketching phase of this book. Thankfully, the cute/strange food creatures I decided to draw into the sketches were approved by the whole team and I hope it also was able to add another magical element to the story.
SS: What independent projects have you done that you’re most excited about? Which characters have you developed that speak to you most? How can we support you in your journey?
SM: As a personal project, I’ve been working on creating zines. I have always been a fan of interesting art books and love thinking about how I can come up with interesting layouts/formats to share a topic or story I am interested in at the time.
I think every character I draw has a special place in my heart, so I’m not sure if I have one that I could call out.
You can find me on Instagram @shinnyoni and if I ever create an online shop, I hope you will come visit the store. Sometimes I do tabling events - this past weekend I participated in the Society of Illustrators’ MoCCA (The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art) Fest.
Dokkebi, 2024
Digital
SS: During the height of the COVID19 Pandemic Lockdown, you drew an iconic illustration for The Neighbors of a flying machine.
Singing On A Sinking Ship flier, 2020
Designed by Pete Valenti
Illustrated by Shin Moon
SS: And during a quiet period, you drew up a beach party flier that the community loved:
Odes to Skinny Dipping flier, 2021
Designed and Illustrated by Shin Moon
SS: Can you describe your process for illustrating these fliers? What aspects of working with The Neighbors were most illuminating to you? We very much appreciate the effort and work you’ve given this project and we cherish both fliers dearly.
SM: It was so fun to be able to work on these fliers with you! I feel like the open-minded nature and trust in how I would handle the finals of these pieces was really lovely. It is always so great when you can come into a team that is fully supportive of one another creatively.
SS: Do you have any other points you would like to make as we wrap up this interview? Causes you're passionate about? What should we be paying attention to?
SM: I think supporting each other, supporting your local community and the human creatives who inhabit it, is always something to advocate for (especially in my very tiny industry of illustration). I wouldn’t be where I am today without the immense support and help from my friends in the field and those in the community who mentored and believed in me. Also representation truly matters so I would love to see more books, more stories that truly showcases the wide diversity and cultures that exist out there. In terms of the world at large, all I can say is free Palestine. “The only way to survive is by taking care of one another.” - Grace Lee Boggs
Self-Care, 2023
Digital
SS: Thank you so much, Shin, for granting us the space and time to speak about your practice and passions for The Neighbors News. We are very grateful.
Shin is an illustrator based in New York. Moon holds an M.F.A. from the School of Visual Arts in Illustration as Visual Essay. She currently teaches at the School of Visual Arts and Fashion Institute of Technology. She has received accolades from different illustration publications including 3x3 Magazine, Society of Illustrators, and Communication Arts.
@shinnyoni
shinyeon-moon.com
@shinnyoni
shinyeon-moon.com
Sophia Stopper is a visual artist, poet, and curator. They received their MFA in Performance from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and their BFA in Studio Art from New York University. Traveling by bookstore, Sophia has lived on four continents and cherishes flying in a hot air balloon above a field of poppies in the Turkish countryside as one of their fondest memories.