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Rowan O’Bryan

@row.1

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Eternally grateful to have met Rowan O’Bryan, my co-curator for the Def/Deaf art show as well as one of the six participating artists. Rowan O'Bryan is a Los Angeles-based mixed media artist. She earned her B.A. from UCLA in Fine Arts and Disability Studies. Her practice explores her identity and experiences with chronic illness, often through self-portraiture and sculptural works that incorporate medical materials and objects from daily treatments. O’Bryan is also late-deafened, having begun losing her hearing at 18. She started learning American Sign Language two years later, but only recently began seeking a deeper sense of community within the Deaf community. This past May, she attended her first artist residency at the Anderson Center at Tower View, a residency for Deaf and hard-of-hearing artists. The experience was her first opportunity to work alongside other Deaf artists and to use ASL outside of a classroom setting. It became an important turning point in her relationship to Deaf community and identity. The works in this exhibition were created during the residency. O’Bryan photographed fellow residents, developed and printed their portraits in the darkroom, and invited some artists to draw or write directly onto their portraits. These pieces mark the beginning of a larger ongoing project in which she photographs Deaf individuals and explores portraiture as a way of building connection, community, and shared experience. Pictured: 1) Collaboration with Daniel Katz Hernandez "Untitled" (11.5”x8” Framed Gelatin Silver Darkroom Print)
Original NFS / Print $100
2) "Rachel" (11.5”x8” Framed Gelatin Silver Darkroom Print) $350
3) Collaboration with Rachel Kolb "Untitled" (11.5”x8” Framed Gelatin Silver Darkroom Print) $350
4) Collaboration with Daniel Katz Hernandez "Untitled" (11.5”x8” Framed Gelatin Silver Darkroom Print) Original NFS / Print SOLD
5) Photo of the artist @row.1 taken in La Matadora Gallery by @row.1

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21 days ago

Three more from a series by Rowan O'Bryan : 1) "Roots" in collaboration with Ebony R. Gooden (11.5”x8” Framed Gelatin Silver Darkroom Print) & "Reaching" also in collaboration with Ebony R. Gooden (5”x7” Framed Gelatin Silver Darkroom Print) 2) "Ebony" (11.5”x8” Framed Gelatin Silver Darkroom Print) ~inquire within.

Rowan O’Bryan attended her first artist residency at the Anderson Center at Tower View, a residency for Deaf and hard-of-hearing artists.The works in this exhibition were created during the residency. O’Bryan photographed fellow residents, developed and printed their portraits in the darkroom, and invited some artists to draw or write directly onto their portraits. These pieces mark the beginning of a larger ongoing project in which she photographs Deaf individuals and explores portraiture as a way of building connection, community, and shared experience. taken in La Matadora Gallery by @row.1

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20 days ago

Pics from my summer road trip staying in 15 states and 2 provinces by @row.1

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a month ago

🧡 @elvispressedme by @row.1

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2 months ago

Last night was our final night at DAR. We stayed up playing games and getting to know each other even more, some of us barely slept at all before heading to the airport. We grew closer than anyone expected and made lifelong friendships. A month felt like forever, but it flew by way too fast. So grateful for every moment and every person here.
Here are some polaroids of the residents and coordinator in the nature outside Anderson Center or working on their craft. Photos by @row.1 except the ones of her— shoutout to @sunsetinthewindow for stepping in behind the lens <3 🤟🫶 by @row.1

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5 months ago

Throw back to my modeling days 💘 happy CF awareness month by @row.1

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6 months ago

I’m excited to share that my work is on view at the Hoyt Gallery at the USC Medical Building.
Through analog photography, and sculptural works incorporating medical materials, I reflect on the ways illness intersects with identity. Many of the materials and subjects in the work, oxygen tubing, medical masks, hospital rooms, and other objects from daily treatments are things I rely on to stay alive, are repurposed as part of the artwork.

The show was installed on Feb 17th and will remain on view until April 7th. This Saturday, March 14th, the gallery will be open to the public to view the work.

There will be delicious Dominican finger foods by the one and only @mamasababa.popup

On Wednesday, March 18th, I’ll also be having an artist talk in conversation with curator @tedmeyerart and a CF, pulmonary and transplant Dr. Rao at USC to talk about my artwork in relation to my life with CF. by @row.1

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7 months ago

A peek inside @row.1 cover feature in issue 04💌
@hannahdotmay chats to Rowan about her project ‘The Familiar Pinch-Cystic Fibrosis Chronicles’ which explores the daily lives of young girls living with CF through photos and journal reflections documenting their experiences of chronic illness. You can read the full feature in a print or digital copy of Frail Youth-Issue 04❤️‍🩹

[image description in comments] by @row.1

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9 months ago

A different kind of girlhood with @row.1 ❤️‍🩹 Writer & journalist @hannahdotmay interviewed Rowan for her cover story on her project The Familiar Pinch - Cystic Fibrosis Chronicles for issue 04. You can read the full feature in print now, link in bio to get your copy💌

All images by @row.1 and the participants of The Familiar Pinch.
Words by @hannahdotmay
Graphic by @elliedarbyprangnell

[image description in alt text] An image of Rowan as a little girl in hospital with a colourful balloon that says get well soon. Pink text reads A different kind of girlhood with Rowan o Bryan by @row.1

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10 months ago

🎂💝 by @row.1

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a year ago

East coast summer :) by @row.1

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a year ago

Rowan O’Bryan
Twin Peaks
35mm film printed on enhanced matte paper with found vintage silver frame
4” x 3”
2024

SOLD
 My work explores memory, identity, and the lived experience of Cystic Fibrosis (CF). I incorporate my own medical supplies such as oxygen tubing, feeding tubes, and IV bags into sculptures, installations, and self-portraits to reframe disability beyond the medical gaze. My art is a way to reclaim and repurpose the materials tied to my illness and turn them into something artistic, beautiful, and personal. Much of my photography centers on nostalgia and the desire to hold onto meaningful moments, places, and relationships. Living with a shorter life expectancy, I am drawn to memory as a way of cherishing the time I have and honoring what matters most.

This particular piece was taken in Snoqualmie while visiting a childhood best friend. It shows an empty bench facing the Twin Peaks mountains, evoking both presence and absence, feelings I often navigate due to moments of isolation caused by my illness. The photo was placed in a vintage frame found at an estate sale, connecting to my interests in objects that carry traces of memory and lives once lived. 
Email art@autobodyautobody.com for inquiries by @row.1

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a year ago