Luna Jay Yvelisse Rodriguez
Multidisciplinary Artist | High Priestess | Mother
Luna Jay Yvelisse personifies the epitome of a versatile Nuyorican: an accomplished multidisciplinary artist, devoted mother, clairvoyant clairsentient, cook, activist, social and political critic. Her creative practice spans painting, sketching, illustration, mixed-media collage, and digital art, each serving as a vessel to convey earth, espiritu, bones, and blood. She captures her inspiration, liberty, and intricate emotions. Luna’s work explores the intersections of identity, culture, race, womanhood, femininity, and bodily autonomy. Rooted in her Afro-Indigenous Caribbean heritage, her art often confronts challenging issues such as misogyny, abuse, sexual violence, motherhood, and resilience, weaving stories of womanhood and liberation through both personal and collective experience.
A graduate of the High School of Art & Design in New York City, Luna studied Art History, Cartooning, Advertisement, Fashion Design, and Fashion Illustration. Her visual language is influenced by artist luminaries like María Izquierdo, Salvador Dalí, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Loïs Mailou Jones, Clementine Hunter, and Harmonia Rosales, blending the surreal, the spiritual, and the political. Beyond visual art, her creative interests extend into fashion design, photography, film, music, and literature—she is a real lover of the arts.
Her career has included milestones such as exhibiting at rapper Princess Nokia’s Young Girls album release party (2015), contributing as a published illustrator to Alicia Maldonado’s book The Ugly Fruit (2018), and debuting her first solo exhibition at The Deep End in May 2018—a retrospective of her evolving artistic journey. In 2025, Luna’s artwork was featured in The Power of She Exhibition, and The Power of She Book (2025) presented by Arts to Hearts Project and the Women in Arts Network celebrating women’s strength, resilience, and creative power. During the same year, Luna was featured in The Great Book of Art Makers 2025, a global compendium recognizing exceptional contemporary artists; selected among the 100 Artists of the International Artist Awards presented by the Arts to Hearts Project. In October 2025, Luna’s work was showcased in the OLEAJE: Latin Caribbean Diaspora Exhibition at AM:PM Gallery in Brooklyn.
In the meantime she continues to pursue her BA in Psychology with a concentration in Child and Adolescent Development at Southern New Hampshire University, with plans to continue her studies to obtain a Master’s Degree. Luna is a passionate advocate for the independence of her island, Puerto Rico, and opposes statehood and the illegal occupation of Puerto Rico by the U.S., as well as the forced annexation of places like Hawaii and other indigenous territories. She is staunchly Pro-Black and Pro-Indigenous and supports the resistance. Luna also stands firmly against any illegal U.S. military interventions, advocating for the sovereignty of Haiti and opposing imperialism worldwide. She supports the struggle for freedom in Palestine, Congo, and Sudan, and is committed to supporting all forms of resistance against imperialist forces. Her loyalty, passion, and worldview is rooted in abolitionist, de-colonial, and community-centered principles. As a High Priestess, Luna once guided others through spiritual healing within their spaces and homes. Luna is also the creator of Cocina de Diosa Luna: La Luna Seasoning (est. 2020), her handcrafted line of Organic Non-GMO Adobo blends that honor Caribbean culinary tradition.
For updates and creative projects, follow Luna on Instagram @LunaJayYvelisse.
Luna’s Inspiration
“My inspiration comes from the women who raised and shaped me—my moms, wela, mami, and mama. They are Caribbean women of Puerto Rico whose resilience, wisdom, and beauty live within me. Through their strength, I learned survival; through their love, I learned compassion; and through their example, I learned that resistance is a way of life. They are the living embodiment of history, carrying ancestral memory in their hands, voices, and stories. Everything I create is rooted in their spirit, honoring the generations of women who came before me and clearing a path for those who will come after.”
Luna's work is unapologetically bold, rooted in color, symbolism, and emotion. She uses visual storytelling to merge sacred imagery with modern narratives, creating spaces where femininity is both celebrated and feared. Every element is intentional: the palette, the textures, the symbols—they speak a language of survival, sensuality, and truth.