My Art Practice

My name is Penny Rowe - I’m an Artist - I’m also the Director of Penny’s Community Arts (CIC) and since 2014 I’ve been sharing art in schools and around my community. Since the late 1990’s I’ve been rearing my six children whilst continuing my academic studies; as a carer I’ve developed patience and compassion which has supported my desire to share artistic understanding and create opportunities for others to make their own artwork. 

I’ve studied many disciplines including digital photography, wood carving, fine art and ceramics. I attended Leeds College of Art in the 1990’s and studied for my Fine Art degree at the Open College of The Arts. I’ve also spent time at the Swarthmore centre in Leeds where I explored ceramics.

I would describe myself as a materially curious person. I am deeply fascinated by new techniques and learning how things work – I like objects and I want to understand my relationship with them, and I am establishing a healthy collection of found objects which I use in my sculptures. My work is primarily sculptural, but it does interchange between two and three dimensions. My art practice is seated within cathartic processes, exploring relationships between innocence, authority, and time. I am also interested in the Art Brut and Outsider Art movements.

As a working Artist, I believe it’s my ecological responsibility to make work that is as environmentally friendly as possible. I try to recycle where possible and source the best materials to support this ideology.