About the Artist
Growing up, Cierra Rowe felt a certain sense of gloom over her small Kentucky town. “The interstate is right there, people pass by, but it’s one of those towns that only exists if you’re looking for it,” she says. “And I felt different from everyone else. You always feel like you’re standing out and I internalized a lot.”
But whatever melancholy existed in the town, Rowe grew up in a home surrounded by tulips. “We moved into this house and there were beautiful plants all around, already there,” she says. Rowe has memories of her mother making her Halloween costume from scratch. Memories of her father pricking his finger to test his blood glucose after a long day.
“And I remember, one spring, a beautiful midnight blue tulip bloomed,” she says. “I found out later that it was rare, and I was so drawn to it, so in awe of that as a child.”
Flowers are a primary subject for her work. Rowe has always been naturally artistic, but she started painting seriously at age 16 as a way to express herself, to channel her frustrations. “I feel I’m an expressive painter,” she says. “I translate the color and form of a flower into something more emotional. Giving each flower human qualities, in a way.”
Her work abstracts the known world, using the tools of surrealism to ultimately demonstrate regard for the original form, a gratitude for nature.
On the Cover: Blessed (Opal, Lapis Lazuli)
Rowe shows this appreciation through other subjects as well. Blessed (Opal, Lapis Lazuli), heavy-body acrylic on 8 × 10 canvas, is inspired by two of Rowe’s favorite gemstones. “Gems are so beautiful, almost like miniature paintings,” she says, “filled with naturally occurring colors.”
For this piece, Rowe selected her colors based on the two gems and then spread the paint across with a palette knife to achieve a certain otherworldly quality. While it may represent two specific objects, the painting gives the impression of a landscape unto itself. It is an image of the interplay between subject and setting, of nature’s role as both creator and created.
“Nature is always there. Anytime I’ve had a terrible day, there are still clouds, trees, the way the wind blows the leaves,” she says.
This minimalistic approach can also be seen as a rebuke of modern sensibilities around image consciousness and the proliferation of social media.
“I have a lot of respect for minimalism. In the sense of nature, of humans, and how those two ideas interact in their natural state without modern distractions,” she says. “Without screens, without these things that are detrimental to the human spirit.”
More examples of her work can be found on her website, www.artofcierra.com.
