Life's confusion, mysteries displayed in photography

By Hilliary Martino, On-Line Forty-Niner

Wednesday, September 2, 1998

A busy intersection. A woman with no face is standing on the corner.

Her back is facing us. She is muttering. Muttering to herself about something, or perhaps nothing.

She is confused about life, her life.

The light changes and other people proceed to cross the street.

All the while the woman stands still with hesitation. Trapped in her own insecurities about making prosperous choices in her life, she is afraid of change, so she never makes a move.

This is the abstract video installation of artist Eileen Cowin's solo debut in Los Angeles "Scarcely had they uttered those words... ."

The exhibition can be seen at Cal State Long Beach in the University Art Museum.

Eileen Cowin not only expresses art through video, she adds a combination of photography and text.

The exhibition in its entirety is "Eileen Cowin: Returning to Ordinary Life," which investigates human emotion and thought.

Eileen Cowin, in her debut exhibition, has incorporated folkloric metaphors of classic fairy tale wishful thinking, to evoke frustration of a never ending cycle of trying to find self-awareness.

The exhibition is so moving and jaunting that Corwin leaves us to invent our own associations and leaves us to tell the story we want to tell.

In this new episodic body of work, Cowin conjures up the desire, the waiting and the sacrifices involved with fulfilling a wish throughout her exhibit. Each still photographic work instills in the perceiver a sense of mystery life has to offer.

A rose bush with sharp thorns and a pricked finger is part of a 12 color digital print called "I'll give You Something to Cry About."

Cowin uses this print to first initiate a tranquil reaction, followed by a warning or suggestive action to keep the viewer in suspense.

Her photography depicts the allusion of old folklore myth, such as for every wish granted, there is always a price to be paid.

Throughout her display, just as in a fairy tale, Cowin takes the naive approach in solving life's greatest mysteries, such as "Things are not always what they seem to be," which means just because he is a bum does not mean he has no home. And Cowin does not simply say "Beware," but rather she says, "Know when to be wary."

Through Cowin's eyes one is left with the haunting fate of life and the many decisions it holds. Whether the decision is a good one or bad, an individual has to make choices and there is no possible way to know the outcome.

A person just has to make a wish, hopes it comes true, and worry about the end of the outcome in the beginning.