Cierra G. Rowe

Cierra G. Rowe is a painter and poet whose work explores the vulnerable complexities of existence through colour, texture, and thought. Rooted in honesty, her practice resists easy definition or approval. “I would rather be disliked for being who I am,” she says, “than adored for being someone that I am not.”

For Cierra, painting is a form of reflection as much as creation. Through it, she captures what she calls “the vulnerable complexities of existence,” exploring discomfort, introspection, and the strange balance between control and chaos. Each work reaches beyond surface pleasantries or social expectation toward something quieter and more personal—a narration of consciousness.

Much of her process begins long before the first brushstroke. The preparation is its own kind of meditation: cleaning the residue of paint from her brushes, scrubbing down her glass palette, straightening her space, pouring a mug of coffee, and setting an intention. There is comfort in that control, a small balance against the chaos that follows once the painting begins.

Her studio is simple and lived in. A lamp stained with paint, coffee rings on the carpet, canvases lounging in the room like roommates, each in a different stage of becoming. Brushes stick together; journals hold scattered thoughts and half-finished sketches. “Mostly,” she says, “I’m grateful to be a minimalist, someone who puts necessity over excess and embraces the not-so-perfect.”

When she feels disconnected, she steps outside—back to nature and away from the noise—toward where it all began. That return to stillness shapes her art as much as her stubbornness does. For Rowe, painting and poetry are constants, a north star that keeps her aligned with what feels real.