Rowen Foster
Rowen Foster was born in Houston, TX and is currently based in Dallas. She studied sculpture and creative writing at the Kansas City Art Institute. She has exhibited work in Houston, Dallas, Kansas City, and Ruse, Bulgaria. Her poetry can be found in Sprung Formal, SAND Journal Berlin, and I Wagered Deep On The Run Of Six Rats To See Which Would Catch The First Fire: a surrealist and outsider anthology of poetry and fiction with Thrice Publishing.
Artist Statement
I work representationally with human figures, pushing the line between transformation and disintegration to capture the convoluted tensions that exist in relationships and stereotypes. Through my work I seek to destabilize the notion of the “acceptable” vs the “unacceptable” through grotesque and abject expression and investigation of different body parts. My use of the body oscillates between realism and a type of abstraction that involves morphing, deconstructed bodies, protrusions, hybridized figures and environments. Combining traditional sculpture practices with surreal and immersive installations that involve video, sound, and poetry, I disrupt the too often one-sided conversation between creation and the female subject. Though women have physically and socially been boxed into the role of creators, agency over this position is still being denied around the world. Through art and storytelling, women have been pinned to the trope of mother-earth figures, inseparable from nature and animals, presented as fertile vessels for reproduction. While mother earth and creator figures can be empowering, these representations of women have both essentialized gender to biological sex and contributed to women being denied basic autonomy. I draw from supernatural imagery while considering the history of Witch-hunts to subvert the “traditional female nude” and dissect the ways superstition, religion, and politics have vilified and narrowly defined women.
CV
Education
2014-18 Kansas City Art Institute, BFA Sculpture + Creative Writing
Exhibitions
2019 The Big Summer T-Shirt Show: Ex Ovo gallery, Dallas, TX
2018 Hecho En Dallas 2018: Latino Cultural Center, Dallas, TX
2018 Expo 2018: 500X Gallery, Dallas, TX
2018 Retrograde: the art of Rowen Foster and Kendall Hammond, Vulpes Bastille, Kansas City, MO
2018 Mujer/Woman: Mattie Rhodes Art Gallery, Kansas City, MO
2017 Elsewhere: a collaboration between ceramic and creative writing majors, KCAI Crossroads Gallery: Center for Contemporary Practice, Kansas City
2017 Motion: 27th Process Space Art Festival Exhibition, Canetti House, Ruse, Bulgaria
2017 10th Annual Human Form Show, Hilliard Gallery, Kansas City, MO
2016 Herdra Regenerated: Solo Exhibition, Houston Heights Private Residence, Houston, TX
2016 The Art Room: Group Show, Foundation Room: House of Blues Houston
2016 Thank You Houston Group Show II, East End Studio Gallery, Houston, TX
Awards and Residencies
2018 Expo 2018 Award, 500X Gallery, Dallas, TX
2017 Process Space Art Festival Residency, Ruse, Bulgaria
2016 & 2017 McKeown Special Project Grant, Kansas City, MO
2014-18 KCAI Grant
Publications
2019 “Don’t Know What to do With Violence…” SAND Journal Berlin, Issue 19
2018 “I’m Sorry,” I Wagered Deep On The Run Of Six Rats To See Which Would
Catch The First Fire: a surrealist and outsider anthology of poetry and
fiction, Thrice Publishing
2018 “Anywhere But Here” and “Oh Bertha,” Sprung Formal: Issue 13, Kansas
City Art Institute’s Literary Arts Journal
2016 Visual Vernacular: Artist Rowen Foster | Free Press Houston online article
https://www.freepresshouston.com/visual-vernacular-artist-rowen-foster/
Internships
2018 Teen Programs Intern, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO
2016 Gallery Intern, KCAI Crossroads Gallery: Center for Contemporary
Practice, Kansas City, MO
Professional Experience
2019
Visitor Experience Facilitator, Nasher Sculpture Center
Provide a rich and educational experience of the museum and exhibitions for visitors
Lead personalized tours for guests and community outreach projects and events
Ticket and membership sales
2018-19
Visual Art Instructor, Big Thought:
Design and teach art classes for Thriving Minds After School, Pre K-6th
Design and teach art classes for Thriving Minds Early Start Summer Camps
2018-19
Museum Educator, Crow Museum of Asian Art:
Design and lead school tours for K-Secondary students
Lead weekly Open Studio program
2017
Assistant, International Sculpture Conference Iron Pour, Wickerson Studio
2017
Installation Assistant, Misty Gamble’s Solo Exhibition:
Decade: Selected works from 2006-2016; Leedy-Voulkos Art Center, Kansas
City, MO
Rowen Foster was born in Houston, TX and is currently based in Dallas. She studied sculpture and creative writing at the Kansas City Art Institute. She has exhibited work in Houston, Dallas, Kansas City, and Ruse, Bulgaria. Her poetry can be found in Sprung Formal, SAND Journal Berlin, and I Wagered Deep On The Run Of Six Rats To See Which Would Catch The First Fire: a surrealist and outsider anthology of poetry and fiction with Thrice Publishing.
Artist Statement
I work representationally with human figures, pushing the line between transformation and disintegration to capture the convoluted tensions that exist in relationships and stereotypes. Through my work I seek to destabilize the notion of the “acceptable” vs the “unacceptable” through grotesque and abject expression and investigation of different body parts. My use of the body oscillates between realism and a type of abstraction that involves morphing, deconstructed bodies, protrusions, hybridized figures and environments. Combining traditional sculpture practices with surreal and immersive installations that involve video, sound, and poetry, I disrupt the too often one-sided conversation between creation and the female subject. Though women have physically and socially been boxed into the role of creators, agency over this position is still being denied around the world. Through art and storytelling, women have been pinned to the trope of mother-earth figures, inseparable from nature and animals, presented as fertile vessels for reproduction. While mother earth and creator figures can be empowering, these representations of women have both essentialized gender to biological sex and contributed to women being denied basic autonomy. I draw from supernatural imagery while considering the history of Witch-hunts to subvert the “traditional female nude” and dissect the ways superstition, religion, and politics have vilified and narrowly defined women.
CV
Education
2014-18 Kansas City Art Institute, BFA Sculpture + Creative Writing
Exhibitions
2019 The Big Summer T-Shirt Show: Ex Ovo gallery, Dallas, TX
2018 Hecho En Dallas 2018: Latino Cultural Center, Dallas, TX
2018 Expo 2018: 500X Gallery, Dallas, TX
2018 Retrograde: the art of Rowen Foster and Kendall Hammond, Vulpes Bastille, Kansas City, MO
2018 Mujer/Woman: Mattie Rhodes Art Gallery, Kansas City, MO
2017 Elsewhere: a collaboration between ceramic and creative writing majors, KCAI Crossroads Gallery: Center for Contemporary Practice, Kansas City
2017 Motion: 27th Process Space Art Festival Exhibition, Canetti House, Ruse, Bulgaria
2017 10th Annual Human Form Show, Hilliard Gallery, Kansas City, MO
2016 Herdra Regenerated: Solo Exhibition, Houston Heights Private Residence, Houston, TX
2016 The Art Room: Group Show, Foundation Room: House of Blues Houston
2016 Thank You Houston Group Show II, East End Studio Gallery, Houston, TX
Awards and Residencies
2018 Expo 2018 Award, 500X Gallery, Dallas, TX
2017 Process Space Art Festival Residency, Ruse, Bulgaria
2016 & 2017 McKeown Special Project Grant, Kansas City, MO
2014-18 KCAI Grant
Publications
2019 “Don’t Know What to do With Violence…” SAND Journal Berlin, Issue 19
2018 “I’m Sorry,” I Wagered Deep On The Run Of Six Rats To See Which Would
Catch The First Fire: a surrealist and outsider anthology of poetry and
fiction, Thrice Publishing
2018 “Anywhere But Here” and “Oh Bertha,” Sprung Formal: Issue 13, Kansas
City Art Institute’s Literary Arts Journal
2016 Visual Vernacular: Artist Rowen Foster | Free Press Houston online article
https://www.freepresshouston.com/visual-vernacular-artist-rowen-foster/
Internships
2018 Teen Programs Intern, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO
2016 Gallery Intern, KCAI Crossroads Gallery: Center for Contemporary
Practice, Kansas City, MO
Professional Experience
2019
Visitor Experience Facilitator, Nasher Sculpture Center
Provide a rich and educational experience of the museum and exhibitions for visitors
Lead personalized tours for guests and community outreach projects and events
Ticket and membership sales
2018-19
Visual Art Instructor, Big Thought:
Design and teach art classes for Thriving Minds After School, Pre K-6th
Design and teach art classes for Thriving Minds Early Start Summer Camps
2018-19
Museum Educator, Crow Museum of Asian Art:
Design and lead school tours for K-Secondary students
Lead weekly Open Studio program
2017
Assistant, International Sculpture Conference Iron Pour, Wickerson Studio
2017
Installation Assistant, Misty Gamble’s Solo Exhibition:
Decade: Selected works from 2006-2016; Leedy-Voulkos Art Center, Kansas
City, MO
