Rowen Foster

Art

Statement

Rowen Foster grew up in Austin and is currently based in Seattle, studied sculpture and creative writing at the Kansas City Art Institute, and is a graduating 3D4M MFA student from University of Washington. In creating surreal hybrids and abject bodies, Rowen integrates queer, feminist, disability, and affect theories with pop culture and myths through large-scale installations.

Rowen works representationally with human anatomy, oscillating between realism, surrealism, and abstraction to create abject body forms and monstrous hybrids. These bodily explorations facilitate nuanced conversations about gender and sexuality that question constrictive stigmas imposed onto individuals based on their anatomy, assumed identity, or how they present.  These sculptures raise questions about the dehumanizing impact of social constructs and violence while pointing to the potential for embodiment to be a site for change and possibility.

Committee

  • Adair Rounthwaite, Chair
  • Michael Swaine
  • Stephanie Hanes
  • Rob Rhee

Education

  • MFA, 3D4M: ceramics + glass + sculpture, University of Washington, 2022
  • BFA, Sculpture + Creative Writing, Kansas City Art Institute, 2018

Exhibitions + Awards

  • 2021 – Just an Ordinary Day, CMA, University of Washington, Seattle 
  • 2021 – The Reordering of Things, Jacob Lawrence Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
  • 2021 – Closed House, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
  • 2019 – Fake Parts, group show, Something Else Collective House, Dallas, TX
  • 2018 – Expo 2018 Award, 500X Gallery, Dallas, TX
  • 2017 – Process Space Art Festival Residency, Ruse, Bulgaria

Contact

Excerpt from commentary by Kascha Semonovitch

​​Rowen Foster lives with a pig. For a recent sculpture, Animal, they kept his bristles and inserted them into the back of a prostrate gelatin figure. The pig is male, but the sculpted body has female characteristics. Such amalgamation of human and animal characterizes most of Foster’s work. Literally and metaphorically, Foster obfuscates the line between genders and species.

Read full commentary.

Object made of synthetic fur and other materials hanging near a video projection of a hybrid creature
Rowen Foster and Sadaf Sadri. Illegitimate Fusions, 2022. Video projection and object made of synthetic furs, wool, synthetic feathers, silicone, urethane foam. Installed at the 2022 MFA + MDes Thesis Exhibition, Henry Art Gallery. Photo by Jueqian Fang.
Video projection of hybrid creature
Rowen Foster and Sadaf Sadri. Detail of Illegitimate Fusions, 2022. Video projection and object made of synthetic furs, wool, synthetic feathers, silicone, urethane foam. Installed at the 2022 MFA + MDes Thesis Exhibition, Henry Art Gallery. Photo by Jueqian Fang.
Hanging sculpture made of synthetic fur and other materials
Rowen Foster and Sadaf Sadri. Detail of Illegitimate Fusions, 2022. Video projection and object made of synthetic furs, wool, synthetic feathers, silicone, urethane foam. Installed at the 2022 MFA + MDes Thesis Exhibition, Henry Art Gallery. Photo by Jueqian Fang.
Form of human body kneeling with head on floor and hands covering back of head
Rowen Foster. Animal, 2021. Gelatin, glycerin, pig hair. 2' x 2' x 3'. Image courtesy of the artist.
Nude female figure with four legs; adjacent prone figure with rifle that has bent barrel
Rowen Foster. Purebred, 2021. Terracotta, faux hair, soil, silicone, faux US dollars, US air force jumpsuit. 5'5" x 8' x 9'. Image courtesy of the artist.
Yeti figure with blue skin approaching a small blue crib
Rowen Foster. Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, 2021. Wool, faux fur, faux nails, urethane foam, found cradle and baby bottle, The Norton Anthology and Theory and Criticism. 6’ x 4’ x 10’. Image courtesy of the artist.
Yeti figure with blue skin holding a baby bottle in one hand
Rowen Foster. Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, 2021. Wool, faux fur, faux nails, urethane foam, found cradle and baby bottle, The Norton Anthology and Theory and Criticism. 6’ x 4’ x 10’. Image courtesy of the artist.
Yeti baby bottle in blue-skinned hand of Yeti figure
Rowen Foster. Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, 2021. Wool, faux fur, faux nails, urethane foam, found cradle and baby bottle, The Norton Anthology and Theory and Criticism. 6’ x 4’ x 10’. Image courtesy of the artist.
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