J. Paul Getty Museum

Creator/Creation: Conversation with Harmonia Rosales

The Getty Center hosted a conversation with artist Harmonia Rosales to accompany the museum’s "Beginnings" exhibition, which juxtaposes medieval creation manuscripts with contemporary reinterpretations of origin myths. Curators Lissa Golamon and Beth Morrison framed the show around the Christian Genesis narrative while also presenting non‑Christian texts, emphasizing how societies across time visualize the act of creation. Rosales explained that she was drawn to the meticulous visual language of the medieval codices but sought to infuse them with African cosmology, where creation is a simultaneous, non‑linear event. She reimagines the Trinity as the sun, Odua as the nurturing ocean, and Olumare as the male seed, arranging these forces around a central Mother‑Nature figure. The artist also employs the snake and strangler‑fig motifs to comment on manipulation, transformation, and the erasure of identity across generations. Specific examples highlighted include the 12th‑century Stamheim manuscript’s circular composition, which places Adam and Eve at the center of a cosmic wheel, and Rosales’s own canvas that mirrors this structure while inserting African deities and a gilded‑cage background. Curators praised the balance of the installation, noting how the medieval piece prepares viewers for Rosales’s revelation, creating a dialogue between historic and contemporary visual cultures. The exhibition challenges visitors to rethink canonical creation stories through an inclusive, interdisciplinary lens, suggesting that museums can serve as platforms for cultural reclamation. By merging medieval European iconography with African diaspora perspectives, the show expands the narrative of origins, prompting broader conversations about gender, ecology, and the politics of representation in art institutions.