Statement
My ceramic sculptures are intended as objects for contemplation, many are shown in groups existing side by side but distinct. My work is both delicate and robust and silently recognises an essential need for both community and isolation. The pieces are visually informed by the effects of weathering and environmental damage on architectural spaces.
The tidal swimming pools are shaped by both nature and human activity. Coastal pools formed by the interplay of rocks and the surrounding turbulent tidal waters are architecturally altered with walls, walkways and steps. Their boundaries offer a place of sanctuary, solitude and introspection and also of community, gathering and wellbeing.
I have also created groups of sculptural forms which merge buildings with the landscape. Their part glazed surfaces suggest the high watermark left by the tide. The forms embody stillness and stability threatened by rising sea levels. Similarly the remote houses clinging precariously to rock like structures exhibit a resoluteness in facing this threat.
BIO
Rowena Brown graduated with a degree in design from Central St Martins in London. She spent two years living in Palo Alto, California, where she launched her ceramic sculpture career. Upon returning to the UK she completed her masters in Fine Art from Bretton Hall (University of Leeds) within the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. In 2015 she was awarded the Ceramic Review prize for best newcomer at Ceramic Art London. After 15 years as an internationally established artist based in London, Rowena relocated her home and studio to the Isle of Iona, Scotland in 2018.
Her unique art form is shown and sold regularly in the UK and other galleries around the world. Her work has been featured in numerous publications including the Telegraph, The Guardian, Ceramic Review and Coast.
RECENT SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2024 Browns Gallery, Inverness “Inform”
2023 Cavaliero Finn “Elemental Lines” Tatha Gallery, Newport on Tay “Edgelands” 2022 New Craftsman Gallery, St Ives
2021 Cambridge Contemporary Art New Craftsman Gallery, St Ives
2020 Cavaliero Finn, “A Green and Pleasant Land”, London Cambridge Contemporary Art
2019 Cavaliero Finn, “A Sense of the Familiar”, London Ceramic Art London
2018 Flow Gallery, Ochre, London Bevere Gallery, Worcester
2017 Royal British Society of Sculptors, “Conversations: Line and Form”, London Bevere Gallery, Worcester
2016 Cavaliero Finn, “Beauty in the Everyday”, London New Craftsman Gallery, St Ives Craft and Design Gallery, Leeds Ceramic Art London
2015 Ceramic Art York Ceramic Art London
AWARD
Ceramic Review Newcomer Award, Ceramic Art London, 2015