ceedingly important social issue , with dignity and superb quality .”
Freeman has exhibited her artwork in many group exhibitions , most notably in The Substation Contemporary Art Forum in Melbourne , and the Buiten collective in Chiba Prefecture Japan .
Her artwork lives in many private residences throughout the U . S ., Japan , Dubai and Australia .
She is currently producing “ The Joshua Series ”, a collection of paintings inspired by recent visits to the Joshua Tree National Park in the southwest United States .
The workflow sequence is straightforward and spontaneous : Rowe makes the sculptures , and Freeman paints them . They send imagery and sketches to each other ; Rowe builds the forms , and the painting is done during Freeman ’ s extended visits to Rowe ’ s atelier . They work side by side on the deck of Rowe ’ s atelier in Silverado , California , under a canopy of trees . Neither knows how the actions will turn out until they are finished .
Rowe likes to say that the collaboration is to some extent practical since the work on these sculptures represents over 60 years of cumulative technical skill on behalf of both artists . However , the nature of the two artists ’ collaboration goes much further than the constraints of space and time : These works represent a force greater than that of two artists merely working together . The Love Armada speaks to material and psychic realities that transcend the individual in the here-and-now .
Cybele Rowe was born in Sydney Australia , second eldest of six children . She is the daughter of a world ’ s leading authority on Pediatric Genetic Research and a documentary filmmaker mother with a strong spiritual interest . Rowe spent her early years in the US as her father was doing research at Duke University . Her parents decided to return to Sydney , with its magnificent beaches and glorious harbor which she grew up . Completing her High School at Loreto Convent Kirribilli , Sydney , she was accepted at 17 years of age to the premier art school , City Art Institute University of New South Wales . Upon completing her Bachelor of The Arts in Fine Arts , she continued her
Post Graduate studies . Rowe had secured the oldest and largest gallery in Sydney and an art award from the Australian Government enabling her to travel the world . Meeting the influential people from the International Council of the Museum of Modern Art , they impressed upon her the need to develop as an artist in the stimulating environment New York offered .
Having numerous shows in Australia , Rowe , decided to relocate to New York permanently at the age of 26 . Establishing her studio on the Upper East Side , Rowe was able to have numerous high profile shows which included over a hundred paintings and sculptures displayed throughout the Bergdorf Goodman Stores , The World Bank , and Kennedy Center in Washington DC as well as the honor of lecturing at the Smithsonian Institute at the age of 29 .
Both her husband ’ s and her career afforded them to move into their dream loft in the lower part of Manhattan , awaking to the Statue of Liberty every morning . That peace was shattered by the arrival of their son in 1998 and both new parents realized Southern California would be a much more bountiful environment for them as a family . Together , they brought an acre of land with an old dance hall and built a large studio in what was an old mining town at the mouth of the Cleveland National Forest called Silverado . It is there in relative tranquility Rowe has found the freedom to pursue her art with the most wondrous of inspiration , the gift of nature .
Rowe began sculpting in monumental ceramics over two decades ago . As an artist , Rowe is the bold life force who addresses the sacred women . Her females are not specific in nature but rather possess the position of the “ temenos ” or inner sacred space . With her sculptures , Rowe creates containers to hold and announce these beings to the world . In her earliest works entitled , “ Vessels ,” Rowe confronts societal pressures of female beauty . Later with the birth of her son , Rowe reclaimed her space as an artist and completed three bodies of work in only three years with “ Pleasing Female Imagery ,” “ Human Shells as Temples ,” and “ Female Elements .” With the entry of her daughter , Rowe finished her “ Fertility Figures .” In this series , the essence of fundamental emotions such as love and desire are embodied in human form . Her works titled “ Husks ” explore the archetypal question of a woman ’ s purpose after creating life .