About Ben Moon
My happiest childhood memories involved the creation of imaginary worlds, through drawings and music. From a young age, I remember being enchanted by the seemingly magical ability of sonic and visual elements to carry meaning and resonance, and the heightened emotional effect which resulted from combining them. I continued these explorations as a “Drawing/Painting” major/Art History minor at Tulane university, where I immersed myself in the diverse artistic cultures and traditions of New Orleans.
The main inspiration for my work comes from an experience which profoundly changed my life several years ago.
A few weeks before returning for my junior year of college, I was in a serious car accident during which time my pulse flatlined for several minutes before the paramedics were able to revive me. I had broken pretty much every bone on the left side of my body, and had to undergo a number of difficult surgeries over the next several months. After what felt like a lifetime in two different hospitals, I was finally able to return home, but it was still a while before I could leave my bed and begin the arduous journey back to anything resembling personal independence.
Although this was clearly the most surreal, and difficult time in my life. I had become possessed by a memory so profound, that I didn't know how to even begin to describe it to others, let alone fully make sense of it myself. During the time immediately following the accident I had what many have called a near death experience. From this vantage point I could see that we each filter our own unique reality from a common underlying wave of information, or "ground", containing every possible permutation and outcome throughout history and the future, all happening in one eternal instant. Of all the things I was given the privilege of experiencing during this vision, the most profound gift was the ability to truly see myself for the first time in so long. The creative self that I recognized in my heart when I was 3-years-old, before my vision was gradually obscured by the distractions of life.
As I slowly grew stronger, I found that the art which had served me well throughout my youth provided the best tool I had for trying to develop the "language" to share this vision with others, my black and white drawing style depicting the “universal ground of information” alluded to earlier. Every work of art I’ve created since then has served as a catalyst of my healing process, as well a record of my journey which continues to this day.