Inside Out - 10 (More) Questions with Kirie Artist - Hiromi Moneyhun

“Art expresses man”
 - Shinichi Suzuki -

What happens when you mix a unique, exceptionally executed, and relatively rare artform with observational social commentary? You get Hiromi Moneyhun's upcoming exhibition Inside Out, opening on March 28th. The exhibition, running until June 27th of this year, is a commentary on the emergence of women's individuality in the face of the historically enduring struggle towards emancipation from and within overarchingly male dominated societies.

When we first spoke to Hiromi Moneyhun in December of 2016, she was rounding out a very busy year of exhibitions  highlighting her extraordinary Kirie (the Japanese art of paper cutting) masterpieces. We spoke with her this week to catch up on what has changed for her since then and to learn more about this amazing new exhibition.

All images used with the expressed permission of Hiromi Moneyhun

​Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us again! It's been just over two years since you were first featured on our blog in 2016. How do you find you have evolved as an artist since then? How would you describe the evolution of your art in that time?

I don't know if I would use the word "evolve" right now.  I have not changed my approach or my technique or my medium. I'm still cutting paper with an X-Acto knife. And I still follow my interest in subject matter the way that I always have. I don't feel particularly calculating in the themes I pursue. I think that my initial attraction or interest is purely visual at first, and then anything theme-related comes later. The visual element must dictate the theme, and not the other way around. The art comes first.  If the art is subject to the theme, it sinks into propaganda.  The art must stand on its own.

You have a new exhibition opening on March 28th - Inside Out - that speaks to the extensive history of the male-dominated oppression of women and our relatively recent emergence as individuals. Can you speak to your inspiration for this theme?

​This is a good example of what I said above.  This series was strictly visual at first.  It was just people wearing buildings like they would wear clothes or accessories, which is visually interesting to me.  After a sketch or two, the theme of emergence began to... emerge.

From the intricate and complex architecture that both holds the female figures captive while simultaneously failing to contain them, to the female figures within the series, what informed your structural or figural choices?

After the series began to develop, I realized that I wanted or needed complex architectural structures to represent the complex social structures that I was thinking of. I come from a society and culture that is much more conservative and old-worldly than America, and the woman's place in that society is much more "traditional" than here. Of course Japan is not alone in this respect, but it is a perfect example of what I mean, and it's my home country, so it's something with which I'm personally familiar. And not only am I from Japan, but I'm from Kyoto, which is the ancient capital. Kyoto is traditional Japan on steroids, with all of its social norms and expectations and mysterious complexities.

All images used with the expressed permission of Hiromi Moneyhun

All images used with the expressed permission of Hiromi Moneyhun

You often incorporate animal figures in your images. What is their intended symbolism for you and/or the work?

I've gotten a lot of mileage out of chickens, and I think my attraction to this animal is its insignificance.  We don't give much thought to chickens except to kill and eat them.  But we don't spend much time contemplating their feelings.  Maybe that's symbolic of something.  The fox is different, though, as it is generally revered for its cunning and cleverness and figures somewhat into myth.

​How do you personally identify with the themes presented in Inside Out?

Like I said above, I'm from Kyoto, Japan.  It's a city of extremely complex social structures that are largely male-driven.  Japan is a country of "company men" and "office ladies."  It's possible that I wouldn't have the opportunities back home that I have here.  America is much more open to the idea of women in charge of their own destinies.

All images used with the expressed permission of Hiromi Moneyhun

You've only recently completed a mural project at the Cummer - please tell us more about that.

My fellow artist, Dustin Harewood asked me if I wanted to be part of the fence project at Cummer Museum. The inspiration for the mural came from Cummer's permanent collection, Meissen porcelain plates, and one of Chikanobu Toyohara's Japanese woodblock prints. It was interesting, and it went well.  I did the original drawing on paper and then transferred it to the fence with a projector.  My husband and I and a friend penciled it in during three night sessions.  Night because I was using a digital projector, and we needed darkness to see the image on the fence.  After penciling in the lines at night, I painted it in during daylight hours.  It took me about four weeks.


You're known primarily for your unique medium of paper-cutting, and you have an obvious talent for drawing. In what other mediums do you work that might surprise us?

I also hand sew a few traditional Japanese craft items.  And after I came to Jacksonville in 2004, I learned to do embroidery on my father-in-law's vintage freehand single-needle Singer machine.  I also did a piece of wire sculpture a few years ago for St. Augustine's Obelisk 450 celebration.  It now sits inside the Oldest Wooden School House.


What have you learned about yourself through your work?

I've learned that I can do long hours of tedious work!


What experience do you intend to create for the viewer of your art?

I guess that my only intent is to create a "Wow!" experience for the viewer.  Maybe the pleasure of looking at what can be accomplished with a single piece of paper and sharp blade.


How do you define success in what you do?

​I feel successful when I complete a piece and see it hanging in a show under proper conditions, like a beautiful space with good lighting.  And when people tell me how much they like my art.   To me, that's success.

THANK YOU

We'd like to thank Hiromi for her participation in this interview.  We'd also like to thank you for reading. 

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