Emily Jung Miller

What does it look like to imagine a life time?

1000 Moons is an art installation and grief process of 1000+ hand-formed paper moons, representing every full moon cycle witnessed by my grandmother from her birth to her death. 1000 Moons envisions a lifetime as a tangible space where viewers can locate themselves within the full span of another life.

About 1000 Moons

I began this project after both my grandparents died of Covid, as I struggled to stay grounded in my own life, and my understanding of time became distorted and unreal. In response, I am hand-forming 40 oversize sheets of paper with kelp, sheet music, and other materials linked to their history, and cutting them apart into 1,175 circles to represent each full moon in my grandmother's 94 years of life. Stringing each circle together to form a hanging corridor, 1000 Moons creates a physical pathway through time and memory.

In the absence of any time-based American tradition of mourning and grief, during a moment in history when existing grief rituals have been scattered, this work has become a new tradition for me to understand, honor, and process the length of a life.

I imagine my own life time overlapping with hers in the physical space occupied by the 1000 Moons: how many of these moons we saw together, how many she shared with my grandfather, my father, my aunts. Which moons were darkest, and which shone bright? How do I measure the time passed since?

Community Connection

Sharing this work is a way of inviting community into grief, in direct response to the isolation I felt after their deaths. Sharing my ongoing process centers the work of grieving as an ongoing process, and affirms that this process requires sustained space in our lives, our communities, and our culture. This sustained space is a vital part of our ability to heal and connect as a community, from the losses and isolation of the past 18 months and counting.

Contribute & Participate

You can support the project through financial and/or written contributions.

Your donations will fund hundreds of hours of my time creating the artwork and managing the community events, materials costs, and accessible photo / video documentation of each installation. Your written contributions will be included in future exhibitions for community connection and growth.


The GoFundMe page shares healing paths and traditions contributed by the community, using the platform's Updates and Comments.
Click here to contribute and participate.

Schedule of Events

Starting in October 2021, I am sharing my ongoing process of creating the moons: in a series of virtual conversations, immersive video walk-throughs, and physical displays in public space. During each event, I invite all who have experienced loss and grief, especially during this current crisis, to share their new traditions for finding and following a healing path. I invite all participants to visualize their own life times, and those of their loved ones, within this space of 1000 Moons.

All presentations will be recorded, subtitled, and posted online. Physical installations will be documented with immersive video walk-throughs and posted online.
Sign up for my email newsletter for event reminders and recordings

Past Events:

• Launch Event & Community Conversation 1: October 12, 2021
  Hosted online by Portland Textile Month (free, registration required)
  • Event recording video
  • Event recording text transcript


• 5 Years / 60 Moons: Oct. 10-29, 2021
  Physical mini-installation at Gallery GoGo
  
  • Exhibit images and video
  • Indoor gallery space (second floor, ADA accessible)
  • Pioneer Place, downtown Portland, OR [map]


• 22 Years / 270 Moons: Oct. 18, 2021 - Jan. 5, 2022
  Physical installation at Crema Art Annex
  • Exhibit images and video
  • Street-level window installation for outdoor viewing
  • 2805 SE Ankeny, Portland, OR [map]


• Community Conversation 2: February 17, 2022
  Hosted online by Walters Cultural Arts Center (free, registration required)
  • Event recording video
  • Event recording text transcript
  • 1000 Moons in Hillsboro ARTS magazine


• Podcast interview: Released June 19, 2022
  Hosted by Omni Open Studios
  • Audio recording + text transcript


• 18 Years / 222 Moons: June 6-7, 2022
  Forest and ocean installation in Deer Isle, Maine
  • Immersive Video walkthrough
  • Part of my artist residency at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts


• 50 Years / 629 Moons: June 22 - Aug. 13, 2022
  Physical installation at Patricia Reser Center for the Arts, Beaverton, Oregon
  • Beaverton Valley Times article
  • Oregon ArtsWatch article
  
  
  • Opening Reception June 24, 6-8pm
  • Artist Talk + Grief Gathering July 20, 6:30pm
    Event recording & text transcript (hybrid in-person / Zoom)
  • Artist at Work: July 23 + August 13, 2022, 5-10pm
    Two meditative evenings at the Reser Center cutting and stringing moons during the Beaverton Night Market. First time sharing this process in-person with the public.
  
  

1000 Moons is funded in part by the Regional Arts & Culture Council, Oregon Arts Commission, and Ford Family Foundation.

Ongoing support is provided by individual contributions to the 1000 Moons GoFundMe campaign. Thank you.