We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jiwon Ham a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jiwon, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start big picture – what are some of biggest trends you are seeing in your industry?

One of the most transformative—and controversial—forces in media art and design today is the rise of generative AI. Tools like MidJourney, DALL·E, and Stable Diffusion now allow anyone to generate high-quality visuals in seconds—images that used to require years of training and experience. This shift has sparked both excitement and concern across the creative community.
Unlike earlier AI art experiments, today’s platforms enable even non-designers to create compelling visuals with a single prompt. Watching this development unfold is thrilling, but it also prompted me to reflect on a fundamental question: What does it really mean to create?
History offers a helpful perspective. When the camera was first invented, many feared it would render painting obsolete. But instead of replacing painting, photography pushed artists to explore new forms—like abstraction, expressionism, and modernism. Similarly, I see generative AI in a similar way. It’s not a threat to creative work; rather, it challenges us to sharpen our understanding of what only human creatives can bring.
As an interactive experiential designer, I believe our value isn’t just in producing visuals—it’s in answering the question Why. Why this concept? Why this interaction or this form? The most impactful works go beyond aesthetics; they carry intention, storytelling, and emotional resonance. And that kind of meaning doesn’t come from the tool itself, but from the creatives guiding it.
In my own practice, I use AI as a collaborator. During concept development, I often use it to quickly build mood boards that help visualize my ideas more clearly than hours of searching. I also use Chat GPT as if I’m talking to an audience, to spark unexpected thoughts or explore new directions. I believe that if we can address key challenges such as copyright issues and ethical regulations around AI tools, they have the potential to become powerful partners, helping us push the boundaries of imagination.

Jiwon, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a media artist and a Senior Designer at Red Paper Heart, an interactive experience design studio based in New York City. Within the team, I focus on developing sensory-rich interactive art installations that invite people to actively engage with the work. My creative practice blends technology and storytelling, exploring tools like real-time rendering engine, sensors, and AI to bring digital experiences to life.
I began my career as a motion graphics artist in Seoul, South Korea, creating digital artworks for large-scale displays in public spaces including shopping malls and government office buildings. While it was exciting to see my animations light up massive screens, I often felt something was missing. Audiences could only watch and take photos—the experience stopped at the surface. I wanted to create work that invited a deeper, more personal connection between the artwork and the viewer.
That desire led me to pursue interactive art. I completed my graduate studies in Art & Technology and Sound Practices at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where I focused on creating digital artworks that encourage audience participation through interactive technologies. One example is Transient Home (2020), an immersive video installation I created during grad school. The piece invites visitors into an enclosed space surrounded by wall projections and spatial sound. As visitors move around the room, they reveal interviewees’ homes—visualized as shimmering point cloud particles—and hear personal stories about finding a sense of home through frequent relocations. I designed the experience to feel intimate, allowing visitors to step inside these stories rather than simply watching them from a distance.
This shift—from creating screen-based content to designing full sensory environments—has shaped how I approach my work today. I believe interactive experiences have the power to create emotional connections between people and digital media. Through my work, I aim to thoughtfully blend narrative, visuals, and space using interactive technologies—inviting people to engage, explore, and connect.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

For me, the most rewarding part of being an interactive experience designer is watching people engage with a piece and genuinely enjoy it—especially when that interaction feels natural and intuitive, without needing explanation. When I design an installation, I always imagine how a first-time visitor might approach it: what catches their eye, how they move, and how they discover the interaction. My goal is to make that moment feel natural and memorable.
There’s something incredibly fulfilling about watching visitors wander around a sculpture, trigger animations, and react with surprise. Those real, human responses remind me why I do this work. Not every interaction goes exactly as planned—but that unpredictability is part of the magic. Each project teaches me something new about how people connect with art, and I carry those insights into every piece I create.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My goal is to create interactive art experiences that feel intuitive, spark curiosity, and leave people with a memorable experience.
For me, interactive design always begins with intuition. I want anyone—regardless of age, background, or familiarity with technology—to feel invited to engage with the work without needing instructions. The experience should feel welcoming and accessible. Beyond that, I aim to evoke a sense of wonder. Whether it’s through visuals, atmosphere, or playful interactions, I hope to capture people’s attention and encourage them to see things from a new perspective.
Equally important to me is cohesion. I design with intention, considering every element—from motion and sound to spatial layout and the audience’s physical journey through the space. My goal is to bring all of these components together in a way that feels seamless and thoughtful.
As I continue to grow in my practice, I hope to keep refining this approach—crafting interactive art experiences that create lasting memories for the people who encounter them.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://jiwonham.com/?ckattempt=1
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jiwonhaam
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jiwonham

Image Credits

Profile picture by Kyungmook Kim, Artwork pictures: courtesy of the artist, Dongmyeong Kim, and Yuhwan Kang