Gemica Rosenberg

• Lunar Sea, a series by Brooklyn-based interdisciplinary artist, Gem Rosenberg, explores the relationship between humans and the environment inspired by our shared elements and cycles. All life began in the sea, just as we begin our lives in a womb as part human, part "fish". Most fluids of the human body are biochemically similar to seawater. The moon influences the tides, ocean life, ancient and contemporary culture. Rosenberg uses mixed-media collage as an ecofeminist exploration inspired by marine biology, myth and spiritual lunar connection. The sea contains life and death, with a rhythm that calls us home to ourselves, cleansing and attuning us. Yet, it is an inconceivable expanse, sometimes, ferociously wild. The ocean is a mirror and a metaphor for the self, embracing light, mystery, shadow, and depth. There are many examples of feminine archetypes associated with the Sea such as Aphrodite (Greece), the Virgin Mary (sometimes referred to as Our Lady, Star of the Sea), Yemoja (Yoruba), and Sedna (Inuit), revealing how the ocean has cross-cultural associations with divine femininity throughout time. Imagined feminine archetypes float in and out of convention, always somehow rooted in a landscape that is uniquely her as much as she is it. It is this lack of separation between self and environment that shows our simultaneous destruction as an opportunity for healing and completeness. Ouroboros 9ft. collage IG @gemica.rosenberg gem@gemrosenberg.com gemrosenberg.com
• Light Organ 11x17in collage on paper A light organ is the organ of some species of deep sea fish. Their cells or symbiotic bacteria help the fish to light its way in the dark. Light organ embraces our relationship to the body, our shared bodies and inherent cycles of renewal and transformation around and within us.
• Floating Eye 16x20in paper, copper
• Mother of Pearl 11x17in paper, thread, mirror
• Protector 23x13in paper, ink The image of the dybbuk from Jewish mythology is subverted from a malicious possessing spirit to one who thwarts all ill intentions with her gaze, a deflection of the evil eye or male gaze. Patriarchy dislocates us from our souls forcing us to be smaller than who we truly are. Like a dybbuk, we may feel like our spirits are wondering aimlessly. Protector is spirit reunified with purpose, giving women a safe harbor to exist openly to shamelessly explore our bodies without stigma or objectification.