by: Ellen C. Caldwell
for Riot Material
Paige Jiyoung Moon’s solo exhibit, Days of Our Lives, at Steve Turner, Los Angeles, is utterly immersive and compelling. Through minute details both in size (with most paintings averaging just 12 inches in size) and in presenting the everyday, Moon highlights the mundane aspects of life, elevating the ephemeral and making the fleeting more permanent and profound.
In Ko’s Old Apartment, Moon portrays intricate details to offer a glimpse into a friend’s hangout and an artist’s life. We see two young women lounging with face masks on, atop one twin bed and one makeshift bed on the floor, as if mid-sleepover. And we also see clues into an artist’s life, as Ko’s tools are embedded around the room — a set of colored pencils on the desk along with a glass of paintbrushes in the foreground and a shelf with paints in the background…