Auckland-based artist Bev Moon (Cantonese, Taishanese) explores cultural constructs through drawing, sculpture, painting, and textiles. Moon is descended from Taishanese men who first arrived in New Zealand in the 1880s in search of gold and new opportunities. Moon seeks to convey both the courage and resilience of her ancestors, and to comment on her experiences growing up with social, cultural and material expectations.
Narrative frameworks, labour intensive making and a commitment to contextualising histories never spoken about before, but now beginning to be acknowledged, drive her art practice. Moon's work is in private collections in Aotearoa and overseas. Her 2022 exhibition, Fortune, which opened at Whirinaki Whare Taonga, Upper Hutt, is touring a number of public galleries and museums in Aotearoa, including Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga O Waikato and the Hocken Gallery in Dunedin.