Rosśa Crean

Multimedia artist Rosśa Crean (they/them) is an empath, psychic intuitive, Reiki Master Teacher, healer, and certified trauma-informed specialist and life coach. In their artistic work, Rosśa specializes in what they call “liminal abstract” works and “surreal realism.” Crean has chromesthesia, a type of synesthesia where the brain translates sound into colors, and consider their chromesthesia to be a tool that puts them in a liminal space between mind and body. Through their design company [ROH-shuh], Rosśa’s work has been part of art installations and exhibitions throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. Crean has done development work with MoMA, and has been a resident artist at the International Museum of Surgical Science, Illinois State University, and Loyola University Museum of Art.

As a person with synesthesia, Crean occasionally creates musical and visual projects that focus on their own neurological responses between sound, color, and emotional states. It has most recently been featured as a composition tool in their American Prize winning opera, the adaptation of Arthur Machen’s "The Great God Pan.” Their one-act opera “The Times Are Nightfall,” a queer sequel to “Don Giovanni,” premiered at Opera America in July 2018. Their most recent commission, “The Priestess of Morphine,” a monodrama in song cycle style, was commissioned and premiered by the International Museum of Surgical Science in Chicago in June 2019, and was released as a recording with Navona/Naxos Records in 2021.

Besides their work in Tarot and Reiki, Rosśa also help others through acting as a scrying oracle through dark goddess craft. “People fear the shadow sides of nature,” Crean says, “but it is the shadow that cannot exist without the light. I hope to help advise and guide others to become their most authentic selves through embracing both sides.”

A staunch advocate for queer and gender equality, Rosśa founded the “Rosśa Crean Presents” performance series in Chicago, Illinois, which showcases emerging BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ composers and performers. For moreinformation on Rosśa and their work, please go to www.rossacrean.com.