Cybele Rowe and Kaye Freeman have been acquainted since 1985 . They know each other as artistic peers and friends , first in Australia where Rowe hails from and where Freeman moved to at the age of nineteen . They rekindled their friendship during a visit by Freeman in 2014 to Rowe ’ s California atelier .
The Love Armada collaboration began as an experiment – Rowe invited Freeman to paint the surfaces of some of her new work , wondering whether there were ways to push the boundary of the surface finishes on new , large-scale sculptures she had just completed . When Freeman began to cover the surfaces with paint , they both knew – immediately , and with force – that their collaboration was an invitation to a new level of artistic work , and to new ways of being as artists and beyond .
Born in Hong Kong , raised in Tokyo , the child of British ex-patriots with eyes beyond the horizon , Kaye Freeman is truly an international artist . Based , at the moment , in the wilds of Victoria , Australia , Freeman ’ s abstract paintings are simple visual arrangements of vibrant colors , contrasting shapes and bold composition . Her work is described as “... an audacious realization of color , line , form , and philosophy ”. Her mother , an architectural artist , brought her small , elfin daughter to countless Buddhist Temples in Tokyo , and the beauty , depth and visual excitement of these places ignited Freeman ’ s artistic process . Today , Kaye Freeman draws her inspiration from her travels through Japan , Mexico , Hong Kong , Britain , and the US .
Freeman ’ s abstract drawings in paint are rooted in a lifetime study of natural form , and in a set of technical skills , developed at art school and honed to a keen edge while painting for theater and film . The sheer scale , palpable energy , and sensuality of her recent work challenge and conjures with the line , color , and shape , plumbing the viewers subconscious for organic forms , making the images ever more familiar , exuberant and affirming .
Among Kaye Freeman ’ s many awards and plaudits is the prestigious SHE award from the Walker St . Gallery of Melbourne . In presenting the award for Freeman ’ s portrait depicting her mother ’ s end-of-life struggle , juror Angel Lange stated , “ Kaye Freeman has given an incredibly moving and personal work . The piece stimulates conversation about an often muted but ex-