Q&A with Becky Moon

How is college different than you expected?
I did my entire first year on Zoom in my bedroom at my parent’s house in South Korea. I would go on Google Street View and walk from my dorm to the Sam Fox School every now and then just to feel like I was actually there. I had a lot of expectations, but the actual experience when I got to campus was a hundred times more vibrant. The community spirit and bright energy in my cohort is something I appreciate the most about 3D college.

How are your plans different than what you thought four years ago?
Everyone is surprised when I say this, but I was a communication design major with a minor in human-computer interaction up to the first semester of my sophomore year. Then my laptop kept crashing and I fell in love with painting and philosophy. So now I’m a studio art and philosophy double major. I really like doing things with my hands and thinking about things that have been thought for thousands of years, and I could only discover this through stepping out of my comfort zone and taking classes in new areas. The support the school gave me has also helped to strengthen my practice and believe in myself. At the beginning of my time at the Sam Fox School, when I was having a crisis about my future, I went to talk to [advisors] Heather Bennett and Jen Meyer. They told me to follow my heart and do what I wish to do because, after all, it is my education and my choice. And I realized I just wanted to immerse myself in art. I am so forever grateful for their advice.

What’s something new you tried?
Printmaking!!! The presses, brayers, and plates looked scary at first but Sage Dawson and Tom Reed made the print shop somewhere I look forward to going — even at 8:30 in the morning!

Was there a moment at WashU that your perspective on art really changed?
Attending Professor Patricia Olynyk’s LASER talk in New York opened my eyes to the long-lasting impact pioneering artists make on future generations of artists. The event featured Judith Kapstein Brodsky, founding director of the Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Paper; Lisa Cartwright, interdisciplinary scholar who wrote “Screening the Body: Tracing Medicine’s Visual Culture;” and Anna Frants and Natalia Kolodzei, artists who run the CYLAND Media Lab in Armenia. All of the speakers started something new when there was none, showing what creativity and persistence can do. I learned that although the start is always hard, laying the first stone can make a big difference.

Ten years from now, what do you think you’ll remember most fondly about WashU? My cohort, aka Bixby 7 Forever. Most of us met in Jamie Adams’ Painting: Material Culture class which was held in the room Bixby 7. I cannot thank my friends enough because nothing would’ve been possible without such a loving and caring community.

What are you planning to do next?
I am starting my residency at the New York Academy of Art in Manhattan in June. I will be taking classes and making paintings!