In their 2010 anniversary show, Rugby Art Gallery and Museum profiled two of Judith Cowan's sculptures ‘Who are these people?’ 2005, and ‘Melancholia exists’, 2003. with several related recent work, (including Cowan's Memory of a place in Rome).
Judith Cowan’s fascination with the filmic scene is evident within both the sculptures and the drawing. The audience sees things, then, the roles flip as they discover they are in the scene with other people passing and interacting with the work. Who are these people? 2005, uses a wooden model to place the viewer in a theatre-like set before, after and literally behind the scene. Its miniature frame holds an amber, translucent panel that creates a window or film frame. This integrates a constant changeability to whatever the viewer sees through the aperture. ‘Melancholia exists’, 2003, shows the living past tries to cling to the present. The old white chest of drawers support a plaster cast of the vestiges of space between a body and its arms. Its amber, perspex cover, makes it appear almost living from the sides, whilst the opening at the top reveals a white in-between space like a hollowed out rock. Window sash-cords spill out of drawers, some opening to occupy the space of the viewer, so they begin to occupy an inter-space between theatrical prop and art object
