We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Mona Lee Ray. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Mona below.
Mona, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
I have two deeply meaningful projects that come to mind.
One, was a movement-art visual I co-produced in 2018 with my friend, Eddie Rodriguez, to Vicktor Taiwo’s “Digital Kids.” This was also around the same time I started writing my book, which is the other most meaningful project to me.
What made the visual with Eddie so special are a few things: the fact that we improvised the entire thing & the creative-chemistry between us that has always felt like sheer magic. I wish I could put it all into words, but you’d just have to see the visual or be in the creative space with us to understand. Eddie is one of the few artist-friends I have that I resonate with on a vibrational level when it comes to the content we produce individually–I guess because we share a lot of the same spiritual values. We’re both very intentional about the messages we put out. Also, he’s a Scorpio & I’m a Pisces? So… It rained that day and we filmed in front of a pond. We just worked with a couple of simple locations (an abandoned barn & that pond), feeding off of this dreamy, ominous song that was essentially a love-letter-cry about life, that we both related with. I just remember we worked on that project the entire day & it all came together so easily in the end. It’s a feeling I never take for granted. Ultimately its’ message is a play on honesty & how it’s not always pretty, or easy to digest (in the beginning of the visual, I’m resembled as innocent & bright, in an abandoned barn appearing “lost”, then it cuts to a more ‘weathered’ me & I’m visibly numb, puking up black, murky liquid). … (it was charcoal toothpaste, don’t worry). It was a trip, to say the least.
And with the book I wrote, it was cathartic to use my own traumatic experiences in a fictional way to gain the closure I never got with a loved one. I have never worked so hard on a “visual” project than I did with my book, Norah Wolfe Has Gone Insane. I wanted to submerge readers into a movie, or a series, & take them on a spiritual ride through love, pain, mental health awareness, & the slow burn romance of a lifetime.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Well, my name is Mona Lee Ray & I started out in this art-world through dance. I got into the creative industry pretty naturally & early. I started dancing when I was 15 on a team in Oxnard, California & from there, I dedicated my life to the dancing. My dad is also an artist, so I just grew up in it. We watched movies as a means of having quality time as a family when I was a kid & that nurtured a lot of my storytelling ability. Through dance, I have learned what it means to network, to collaborate, to train, to compete, to produce, to . . . really find my voice. I’d even say my voiceS as I’ve tailored a lot of my freestyle etiquette classes around character creation, like a D&D game. Since 2016, I have co-directed/produced music videos, been in them, created set-designs for musicians, competed in 1v1 battles, & so much more. When the pandemic hit & there weren’t any events, I turned to my paint. I started Michiko Cafe, where I painted on denim jackets & did custom commissions for people while selling my art. I never thought it’d be my full-time job, two years later. I want to steer away from doing custom commissions, & paint what I truly feel.
I wrote & published my book this year & reconnected with my inner-child in the process. I aim to write stories as long as I can & produce as many books, in whatever form they take (fiction novels, children’s books, graphic novels), & maybe one day get to work on the movie adaptation set ;)
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
In August of 2018, I experienced a home break-in & all of my camera equipment was stolen. I went from being a full-time creative with a supplemental part-time job, to moving into that job full-time & mourning my creative freedom (amidst so much more).
I kept telling myself how much more successful I’d be if I had my camera. I blamed poverty as I was a single mom & it felt like an endless loop of barely getting by, much less replacing an expensive camera. I kept telling myself, “Spider-Man is still Spider-Man without the suit.” It became a mantra for me for some reason because I felt like I was missing a big part of myself by not always having my camera on me.
Fast forward to 2022. I finally get a decent enough tax return back & I buy my lens — my set-up — but newer. I was ecstatic. I cried. But it had been so long . . . no one was hitting me up for photography anymore, & that kinda hurt. I realized that without having my camera, I had achieved so much more than I would have with it. The job I ended up taking full-time? Ended up being one of the most beautiful, amazing experiences of my life when it comes to real friends & a healthy work environment. Without it, I wouldn’t have been able to write my book. I created a thriving art business. It was a heartbreaking & healing turn of events that bloomed to enlightenment. I’m grateful for the time I was a full-time photographer, but I guess the time has passed — & life is allowing me to enjoy my hobbies for what they are, & in that, I have found photography to be surprisingly so much more fulfilling than it used to be.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
Before I had kids, it was the creative-freedom. I wanted to dance my heart out & meet everyone & do all the things. Then I had kids, & now everything I do is for them. I want to dance *with* them, show them the beauty of the world, show them what’s possible through art & creativity & . . . do all the things, with them. I love teaching them everything I’m working on along the way. I love showing them that they can make things for fun, or because it has a deeper meaning to them. I loved showing my 7 year old daughter that you can heal through writing, & she’s written 3 books. I’ve homeschooled her since she was 2, & now I have a 1 year old, & they’re absolutely my entire universe.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.monatheraven.com
- Instagram: @monatheraven
- Twitter: @monatheraven
Image Credits
Matt Zagorski