Imogen Eve Rowe acknowledges the Gadigal and Wangal people of the Eora Nation, the traditional custodians of the land on which she lives and creates and holds deep respect for elders, past, present and emerging.
Statement
Imogen Eve Rowe paints watercolours of gardens. And a few other things that take her fancy. Her work explores themes of community, belonging, and identity through an observational practice.
Rowe’s most recent body of work is of large-scale watercolours on Yupo featuring local subtropical front yards. Fascinated by personal histories and aging, Rowe chooses gardens often tended by the elderly, giving her work a pre-emptive, quasi-archival quality. Rowe believes these spaces can hint at identity and tell life stories. These public-facing private-areas hold productivity, spirituality, culture and politics.
Working on pure-white Yupo grants Rowe the ability exploit colour with maximum vibrancy. Rowe paints on the ground, sitting on top of the work, which allows her to paint at an oversized, all-encompassing scale, while maintaining a degree of control of the watercolour on the slippery surface.
BIO
Imogen Eve Rowe (b. 1984, Albury, NSW, Wiradjuri land) is an Australian artist currently completing a Bachelor of Fine Art, majoring in painting, at the National Art School in Sydney. She also holds a Bachelor of Design (Communication Design) from Swinburne University of Technology (2007).
Her oversized sketch of her sister’s garden, Céleste’s Frontyard (red brick and bougainvillea), is a finalist in the upcoming Dobell Drawing Prize. Her large-scale watercolour portrait of her grandfather, Pop, is featured in the 2024 Salon des Refusés. Rowe has been a finalist in several art awards, including the Fisher’s Ghost Art Award (2020, 2021, 2022), FLOW: The Biennial National Contemporary Watercolour Prize (2019, 2021, 2023), and the Greenway Art Prize (2016, 2021, 2022). In 2024, she won first prize in the BFA Catergory of the National Art School Library Artists’ Book Award. In 2018, she won First Prize in the Open Category of the WOOF! Art Prize at Art Est. Leichhardt for her portrait of her whippet puppy, Mikey.
In 2019, Rowe held her first solo exhibition, Familiar Flora, at the Chrissie Cotter Gallery in Camperdown. In 2023, she held a mini solo exhibition titled Daily Quiet at Weswal Gallery in Tamworth. Rowe’s work is included in the collection of Campbelltown Hospital, the National Art School Library and is also held in private collections across Australia.
Contact: imogeneve@gmail.com
Exhibitions & Awards
2025
UPCOMING! Finalist, 11 April to 21 June 2025, Dobell Drawing Prize, NAS Gallery, National Art School, Darlinghurst
2024
ON NOW! FIRST PRIZE, BFA Category, NAS Library Artists’ Book Award, Stairwell Gallery, National Art School, Darlinghurst, 11 November 2024 to 30 January 2025,
ON NOW! Salon des Refusés, S. H. Ervin Gallery, The Rocks (8 June to 25 August); The David Roche Foundation, Adelaide (6 September to 26th October); Retford Park, Bowral (30 November 2024 to 27 January 2025).
The Grad Show, The National Art School, Darlinghurst, 6 to 15 December
2023
Finalist, The NAS Library Artists’ Book Award, Stairwell Gallery, National Art School, Darlinghurst
Finalist, FLOW National Contemporary Watercolour Prize, Wollongong Art Gallery, Wollongong
Finalist, ACB Selects – National Emerging Art Prize, Online
Glebe Art Show, Tramsheds, Forest Lodge
Grounded, curated by Gabriella Boyd, T and CCs Salon, Surry Hills
Solo exhibition with Weswal Gallery, Tamworth
Inside This Box: group exhibition with The Corner Store Gallery, Orange
2022
Finalist (traditional category), Fisher’s Ghost Art Award, Campbelltown Art Centre, Campbelltown
Finalist, Greenway Art Prize, Sydney Bus Museum, Leichhardt
Bloom, Weswal Gallery, Tamworth
Finalist, ACB Selects – National Emerging Art Prize, Online
Femelle, The Watch House, Balmain
2021
Finalist, FLOW National Contemporary Watercolour Prize, Wollongong Art Gallery, Wollongong
Finalist, Greenway Art Prize, Mungo Scott Building, Summer Hill
Finalist (traditional category), Fisher’s Ghost Art Award, Campbelltown Art Centre, Campbelltown
Mama’s with Easels, The Watch House, Balmain
Lethbridge 20000 Small Scale Art Award (online finalist), Lethbridge Gallery, Paddington QLD
Incognito Art Show, Verona Studio, Paddington
Mama’s with Easels, The Watch House, Balmain
2020
Finalist (traditional category), Fisher’s Ghost Art Award, Campbelltown Art Centre, Campbelltown
Spread Your Wings, The Watch House, Balmain
Art Est in Iso, curated by Julia Flanagan, Art Est, Leichhardt
2019
Finalist, FLOW National Contemporary Watercolour Prize, Wollongong Art Gallery, Wollongong
Glebe Art Show, Tramsheds, Forest Lodge
WOOF! Art Prize, Art Est, Leichhardt
Familiar Flora, solo exhibition, ‘Chrissie Cotter Gallery, Camperdown
2018
Mama’s with Easels, The Watch House, Balmain
Glebe Art Show, Tramsheds, Forest Lodge
First Prize, Open Category, WOOF! Art Prize, Art Est, Leichhardt
Art Est, Mid Year Student Art Exhibition, Art Est, Leichhardt
Mama’s with Easels, The Watch House, Balmain
2017
Mama’s with Easels, The Watch House, Balmain
2016
Photography finalist, Greenway Art Prize (Photography), Art Est, Leichhardt
collections
The National Art School Library
Campbelltown Hospital
Private collections throughout Australia
Education
2022-currently Bachelor of Fine Art at The National Art School
2010 - 2020 Various short courses with established artists, including Gina Bruce, Ash Frost, Graham Marchant and Nicole Kelly
2007 Bachelor of Design (Communication Design), Swinburne University of Technology
