Community Hospital Exhibiting Artist & Artwork
Joyce Rohrmoser // Ear in Rome
Ear in Rome, 2014
Video Installation
I created this videowork during a Rome art residency in 2014 shortly after an acute hearing loss in my left ear. Inspired by Aeneas, the mythical hero who arrived at the mouth of the Tiber with the mission of founding Rome, I imagine a big left ear floating in the sea next to Ostia and eventually landing on the beach. From there, it starts its way to Rome. I find this ear in a church and put it over my handicapped left ear. There, I pray to God to give me back my sense of hearing. Wearing this ear, I ascend the “Holy Stairs” on my knees. A miracle occurs: though I am still not able to hear, I am, nonetheless, able to understand the voices of the sea, of plants, of animals, and of my videocamera…
…The healing power of Art.
Joyce Rohrmoser (Born in Milan, Italy 1954), was educated in Photographic studies at the Instituto Europeo Del Design in Milan, and at the London College of Printing in London between 1972 and 1974. She completed her Doctorate in Russian Art History in 1982 before marrying and relocating to Salzburg, Austria. Joyce specializes in portrait and theatre photography and video, and has exhibited widely in both individual and group exhibitions in Museums and Galleries across both Europe and Asia since 1997. Notable exhibitions include at The National Jewish Museum (Lithuania), The Fotomuseum (Burghausen, Germany), The Centre Pompidou (Paris, France), Palazzo Vecchio (Florence, Italy) and Hong Studio (Beijing, China). Her work is included in both the National Austrian Collection and the Bavarian National Collection. From 2008 to 2015 Joyce has been creating photographic and videowork in China.