02 | June | 2014 | Painter's Progress

Headlands Project, A Woman's Work,January February 2011

Kimberly Rowe, Flipside, 2011. acrylic, fabric, wood, and steel, 100 x 96 inches

An introduction can be a wonderful thing. You can meet interesting people, and make new friends. You can be introduced to your new favorite foods, books, music, or artist. I’d like to introduce you to some of my favorite artists. Some of whom I’ve been familiar with for years, and others I’ve only recently been introduced to. The person I’d like to introduce is the artist Kimberly Rowe.

clair de lune argent, 2012, acrylic and fabric 49x69 in

Kimberly Rowe, clair de lune argent, 2012, acrylic and fabric 49×69 in

Education
2009		MFA, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA, with Honors
1999		BA, Studio Art, California State University, Hayward, CA, Cum Laude
1999		BA, Special Major / Psychology, Philosophy, and Religion, California State University, Hayward, CA, Cum Laude

Dots in Other Spots, 2014 acrylic on canvas, 60x48 in

Kimberly Rowe, Dots in Other Spots, 2014 acrylic on canvas, 60×48 in

“I thrive on a dance of intuitive gambles and considered choices. My paintings are non-objective, visual experiences. I make no specific plans, but watch them unfold as they go. I am not interested in painting things that I already know; it is the mystery and revelation of things unknown that thrill me.

What drives my work is the challenge of creating puzzles that I have to solve, which produce outcomes that delight and surprise me. I love layering: hiding and revealing, and hiding and revealing, again. Rhythm and repetition move me. Edges and angles grab my attention. And I live for color. Give me weird greens next to extreme yellows on top of grey blues beside earthy oranges, dull purples, bright reds, and dirty whites, and I’ll gladly push and pull them around.

I insist upon undoing my paintings when they seem “done” too soon, because they are, after all, “just paintings” and I will never know how great they can be if I settle for leaving after their first act. I don’t want to have to ask, “What if? . . .What if it could have been something grander and I stopped short?” KR