Showing synchronously to the AusGlass conference this month in Perth, is an exhibition of glass and mixed media by two South Australian women: B. Jane Cowie and Emma Petersen. Both artists are inspired by fabric textures and wallpapering incorporating iconic symbols of domestic life interpreted from the 1950's.

A common focus between the two artists seems to be the essentially feminine aspect of the 1950's domestic space, for most women the one solid environment that was theirs to create and inhabit. Whist Cowie literally juxtaposes found objects from the era such as teaspoons, footstools and common porcelain ornaments with her hand sculptured figures and blown glass vessels to present an allegorical story, Petersen presents a newly kitsch aesthetic with some undertones and some overt references to the 50’s period.

Petersen, the younger emerging artist, focuses on colour and form in her work with repeated emblems of stylized  florals. These shapes feature as embellished prunts on tall cylindrical vases in frosty gelati colours such as pistachio, pink and ivory. These are the Embossed Wallpaper series alluding to the textures of wallpaper commonly used in homes in 1950's. The floral emblems also occur as palm sized objects that are hand blown and acid etched.  These curios are dotted around the vases like offspring and in another scenario are placed on 'beds'. The Bed Spread works are installations featuring the flowers placed in rows upon a cushioned surface, with a sheet of toughened glass overlaid, implying an ironic sense of safe fragility.

Petersen's Table Doillie vases featuring sleek tapered lines and offset with delicate intaglio etchings are reminiscent of finely needled doillie cloths that women would commonly make as a hobby. The fine etchings are barely distinguishable within the sensuous shades of citrine, gold and scarlet with subtle gradations of colour. A famous icon from the 50's is recalled in the series Anodized Aluminium Picnic Cups where hand blown glass vases are encased with silver leaf. Yet another area receiving the artists attention is the realm of fashion where anecdotal advice was of tantamount importance; the title Pink and Green Should Never Be Seen applies to two cylinder vases, one candy pink and one lime green that feature sandblasted floral shapes.

In her artist statement,  Petersen describes the act of filtering an impression that the era has bestowed on her, where she is "afforded the privilege of indulging the romantic notions…and glamour portrayed in images of Hollywood" coupled with her fascination for 1950's fabric that was "synthetic and unreal". Petersen draws upon the transparent quality of the glass media to evoke certain timelessness through her universal symbols, consequentially the pieces are looking devices allowing the viewer to contemplate a transient place of wonder.

B. Jane Cowie's work is tangential in the sense that the forms are not utilitarian but figurative. They allude to truthful memories, renditions of life with her grandmother, telling stories about the frailty of the domestic condition, the paradoxical roles of women as homemakers, wives and child rearers. The imagery in Cowie's work is broad and so much depth can be extracted from its allegories while the interpretations gathered by viewers are as diverse as their own backgrounds. There are works that are fond and soft where the treatment of the figure is languid and works that conjure violence such as the Domestic Bondage series where the tense darkness of the figure is uncomfortably stirring. The notion that "Life is a fragile journey" is explored in this body of work referring to a time in the community when domestic situations were private, when people left their feelings unshown and their thoughts unspoken.

Covered poignantly demonstrates this phenomenon, where a figure in coma pose lays powerlessly over a brick that is inscribed 'covered'. Cowie inscribes language on many pieces in this show, there are for example three 50's footstools proclaiming 'Obedience', 'Trust' and 'Desire'. These stools are covered in pink fluff, floral carpet and stripy brocade and conjure a time when virtues were held in honour, desires elusive disregarded. The Touch stone series features three pieces of sculpted sand engraved glass embedded onto cast bronze bricks, each stone with one word, 'Trust', 'Hope', or 'Memory' softly transparent as though how in this transient age these pieces are like tombstones.

Language is emphasized again in the before mentioned series Domestic Bondage with three pieces entitled Flipped, Beaten, and Strained. A canvas blind surface is ornamented with rusted utensils, egg flips, beaters, strainers, and the figures of blackened glass are huddled up, poses sitting in the kitchen or should we hanging onto the edge of the picture corner, are helplessly forlorn. Cowie relies on the gesture of the figure to convey her point then the hand written script loads the punch.

In contrast Cowie also uses the figure in gentler contexts such as the three-piece series Chenille Dreaming where the sand engraved figures lie in sleepy poses on top of a pink chenille bedspread. Fond memories also are recalled in the two pieces The Party and The Arrival where photo etched aluminium with floral wallpaper type patterning is the back board on which tea strainers, teaspoons and pretty beaded coin purses hang. A polished glass figure lies floating across the surface and the assertions 'Hope' and 'Faith' bring relief to the setting. Cowie refers to the excitement of being given little purses of money that her grandmother had secretly kept for her. The subtle insinuations in Cowie's work reflect the range of human emotion, experiences that mould our memory that condition our lives.

This is the pertinence of the past. The artists have shown us the usefulness of reflecting on previous times to understand who we are as individuals and to understand how society has changed, how ideas and morals have altered over a period of time. This is the sole purpose on reflection of the past, to learn, introspect and improve upon it. Glass as an ethereal yet earthly medium has an infinite range of potential to inspire and enlighten which Cowie and Petersen have courageously proven.