10 Questions with Momo

Momo moved to New York to pursue her modeling career in 2017. 

Throughout the years, Momo has gained interest in art and started creating artistic digital and analog fashion pieces and modeling herself in them.

Momo was born in Japan to a Japanese mother and a Ghanaian father. She expresses her identity as a mixed-race person with different backgrounds and her ideology of society behind her work.

She explores her unique vision through artistic digital and analog fashion pieces, paintings, and performance shows.

Her work is a collection of a variety of experiences. It's about showcasing her background, the power of her heritage, the power of confidence, the power of uniqueness, and the power of purpose. She mixes different materials in her work to symbolize herself as a mixed person.

digianagroup.com | @momo_x_art

INTERVIEW

Please introduce yourself to our readers. Who are you, and when did your interest in art first begin?

My name is Momo, and I was born and raised in Japan to a Ghanaian father and a Japanese mother. In 2017, I moved to New York to pursue a modeling career, but my interest in art began soon after I met a close friend who was an artist. One day, he said to me, "You should try various things because you're very unique," and showed me his artwork. At that moment, I realized that art could be anything, and it became a way for me to express myself freely.

You moved to New York in 2017 to pursue modeling. How did your interest in creating art develop since moving to the city? 

In modeling, there are certain expectations—how you should look, behave, and express yourself. But in art, you have complete freedom to be your own boss, deciding how you want to look and how you want to express yourself. Moving to a dynamic city like New York made me realize that being unique and different is both powerful and beautiful, and this realization sparked my growing interest in creating art.

Your art reflects your experiences as a person of mixed heritage. How do your Japanese and Ghanaian roots shape the themes and materials you work with?

As someone with both Japanese and Ghanaian identities, my art focuses on fusing and collaborating across different backgrounds. I believe it's impossible to express myself through just one cultural lens, so I always integrate both sides of my heritage into my work. At DigiAnaStudio, where I am part of the team, we explore the combination of futuristic digital elements with traditional analog techniques, creating a dialogue between old and new. This blending of materials and approaches reflects the diversity of my own identity and the complexity of my experiences.

Could you walk us through your process of blending fashion, painting, and performance in your creative practice? How do these different mediums influence each other? 

As I mentioned earlier, blending materials, approaches, and mediums is central to my creative process. In all of my work,I am an integral part of the art itself. The primary theme and subject matter is "ME." When I pursued modeling, I was expected to express "the me that others wanted," but now, through my art, I find joy in freely expressing "the me that I want."
Fashion, painting, and performance all interconnect in my practice, as they each allow me to explore my heritage and experiences from different angles. Regardless of the medium, my work remains unified by these themes, and I'm passionate about the endless possibilities that emerge from blending them.

Your work mentions the power of heritage, confidence, and purpose. How do these themes connect to the broader message you want to convey through your art? 

I believe that the more complex and diverse art is, the better it can convey a deeper meaning. Art has the ability to reflect the many facets of who I am, and I aim to show through my work that the existence of MOMO can be expressed in countless ways. My goal is to inspire people, especially those struggling with their identity, to realize that "it's okay to be who you are, and being unique is wonderful."
Although I am currently active in New York, I hope to bring my work to Japan one day. I want to encourage Japanese society to embrace individual differences and recognize that everyone is unique in their own way—and that this uniqueness is something to be celebrated.

Mixing different materials is a key aspect of your practice, symbolizing your identity as a mixed-race person. Can you share more about how you select and combine materials and techniques and what they represent to you? 

At DigiAnaStudio, where I belong, we focus on blending futuristic digital elements with traditional analog techniques. We often incorporate glitch-like expressions and augmented reality (AR) to create unique, near-future digital experiences. In my work, I combine these digital elements with analog materials like fashion to represent my own identity. For me,mixing materials and techniques mirrors my experience as a mixed-race person, blending different cultural backgrounds.It feels deeply personal and allows me to express my identity in a way that feels authentic and uniquely "me."

How do you see your work contributing to conversations about identity, race, and multiculturalism in the art and fashion worlds?

I hope my art contributes to the conversations around multiculturalism, identity, and race by fostering cultural understanding and appreciation among people from diverse backgrounds. Whether in the art or fashion worlds—or beyond—I aim to raise awareness of cultural diversity and challenge stereotypes. By encouraging more understanding of each other, my work seeks to empower individuals and bring communities closer together.

In your performances, what emotions or messages are you trying to evoke from your audience? How does this differ from the experience of viewing your digital or painted pieces? 

The biggest difference with my performances is that they unfold in real-time. Viewers experience me moving and expressing myself right in front of them, creating an emotional connection that is raw and immediate. The energy in the moment is something that can never be replicated, making it more special than viewing a completed digital or painted piece. There's a unique intimacy in seeing the work form and come to life before their eyes, offering a sense of presence that's different from experiencing art that has already been created.

What challenges, if any, have you faced while exploring your identity through your art? How have these challenges shaped your work? 

At times, I question whether I could have done better with a performance or exhibition based on people's reactions. However, I've come to embrace the fact that art is subjective, and that's perfectly okay. It's the unpredictable nature of art and how it connects with different individuals that make it both fun and creative. These challenges have pushed me to remain true to my expression, understanding that each piece will resonate differently with each person, and that's part of the beauty of the process.

Looking ahead, how do you envision the evolution of your artistic practice? Are there any new themes or mediums you're excited to explore? 

With today's advancements in technology, art can take on many forms, but this also makes it more challenging for artists to remain unique and stand out. Looking ahead, my focus will be on staying true to my own path and refining my beliefs within the art world. I'm excited about the challenge of evolving my practice while maintaining my individuality and continuing to explore new themes and mediums that resonate with my journey.

Artist’s Talk

Al-Tiba9 Interviews is a promotional platform for artists to articulate their vision and engage them with our diverse readership through a published art dialogue. The artists are interviewed by Mohamed Benhadj, the founder & curator of Al-Tiba9, to highlight their artistic careers and introduce them to the international contemporary art scene across our vast network of museums, galleries, art professionals, art dealers, collectors, and art lovers across the globe.