ceedingly important social issue, with dignity and Post Graduate studies. Rowe had secured the oldest
superb quality.”
and largest gallery in Sydney and an art award from
the Australian Government enabling her to travel the
Freeman has exhibited her artwork in many group world. Meeting the influential people from the Interexhibitions, most notably in The Substation Contem- national Council of the Museum of Modern Art, they
porary Art Forum in Melbourne, and the Buiten col- impressed upon her the need to develop as an artist
lective in Chiba Prefecture Japan.
in the stimulating environment New York offered.
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.
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
Rowe likes to say that the collaboration is to some studio in what was an old mining town at the mouth
extent practical since the work on these sculptures of the Cleveland National Forest called Silverado.
represents over 60 years of cumulative technical skill It is there in relative tranquility Rowe has found the
on behalf of both artists. However, the nature of the freedom to pursue her art with the most wondrous of
two artists’ collaboration goes much further than inspiration, the gift of nature.
the constraints of space and time: These works represent a force greater than that of two artists merely Rowe began sculpting in monumental ceramics over
working together. The Love Armada speaks to mate- two decades ago. As an artist, Rowe is the bold life
rial and psychic realities that transcend the individu- force who addresses the sacred women. Her females
al in the here-and-now.
are not specific in nature but rather possess the position of the “temenos” or inner sacred space. With
Cybele Rowe was born in Sydney Australia, second her sculptures, Rowe creates containers to hold and
eldest of six children. She is the daughter of a world’s announce these beings to the world. In her earliest
leading authority on Pediatric Genetic Research and works entitled, “Vessels,” Rowe confronts societal
a documentary filmmaker mother with a strong spir- pressures of female beauty. Later with the birth of
itual interest. Rowe spent her early years in the US as her son, Rowe reclaimed her space as an artist and
her father was doing research at Duke University. Her completed three bodies of work in only three years
parents decided to return to Sydney, with its magnif- with “Pleasing Female Imagery,” “Human Shells as
icent beaches and glorious harbor which she grew Temples,” and “Female Elements.” With the entry of
up. Completing her High School at Loreto Convent her daughter, Rowe finished her “Fertility Figures.”
Kirribilli, Sydney, she was accepted at 17 years of In this series, the essence of fundamental emotions
age to the premier art school, City Art Institute Uni- such as love and desire are embodied in human
versity of New South Wales. Upon completing her form. Her works titled “Husks” explore the archetypBachelor of The Arts in Fine Arts, she continued her al question of a woman’s purpose after creating life.