"Just when you think you have seen the full scale of visually stimulating art in every medium imaginable, something magical can suddenly appear to change your mind......(namely): "Painting with Light" featuring recent work by Austine Wood Comarow, a San Diego Artist who activates the idea of collage by layering polarizing filters to create kinetic light paintings she calls "Polages". Essentially her art consists of recognizable, multicolor imagery produced by cutting and layering hundreds of small pieces of clear colorless cellophane, positioned at various angles to a polarizing filter and to each other. What results are inscrutable works which resemble stained glass windows in muted pastels, which, in transcendence from a phenomenon of physics to an interactive art form, inspire a somewhat religious aura about them.....

"In some of the pieces the viewer interacts with the art by holding a small polarizing filter (handed out at the entrance to the exhibit) which reveals a previously unseen image that can change by rotating the filter in front of your eyes - an eerie sensation, kind of like being inside a giant kaleidoscope. Moreover, the way a particular image and set of colors are perceived is dependent on the orientation of all elements in space and time, including the viewer."

- Laurie Mendenhall: Arts Scene, Daily Pilot

The Art of Austine Wood Comarow

A painting that changes! Now this is something new.

It is the art of Austine Wood Comarow -- realistic images which evolve and change with the rhythm of a storm or the subtlety of a spring morning. They are magical yet familiar. And for almost 30 years they have found their way into some of the most prestigious collections in America and Europe.

The work of Austine appears like brightly colored iridescent stained glass. Yet it continuously changes before your eyes.

But these colorful images are made with no pigments or dyes of any kind. In fact, the materials used to make "Polage art (as Austine has named her unique medium) are totally colorless until they are put together to extract pure colors from white light, much as a rainbow does.

Austine invented her medium in 1967 when someone showed her the effect of taking clear colorless cellophane and placing it between two pairs of Polaroid sunglasses. Amazing! Bright colors that changed when one pair of glasses was rotated. By applying scientific principles to what she saw, Austine developed a complex technical approach to her art which she has used to produce over 5000 original works, including major installations for museums worldwide.

The work is soothing yet provokes wonder and excitement in all who see it. "I feel lucky to be able to bring inspiration to people through a medium I invented," says the inventor-artist. "There are no guidelines to work from -- no rules to follow. The medium unfolds and creates its own traditions and discipline as I work and discover its surprises."

Austine uses space-age materials combined with old-world artistic techniques to create her art. Since the art continuously changes, Austine uses her medium to give her work a story-telling quality. Her early work often referred to Greek mythology and tales of transformation such as "Leda and the Swan." Austine's recent work reflects her passion for the environment and her quest for understanding nature and humanity.

The Boston Museum of Science commissioned Austine to create a huge lighted wall of her work depicting her vision of the history of communication and human interaction. In Paris, in commemoration of the French Bicentennial, the science and technology museum commissioned her to create a walk-through environment depicting her view of the last 200 years of science and technology.

"I enjoy placing my artwork in science and technology museums," says Austine. "That is where we place the icons of our modern culture."

"I feel truly blessed," says Austine. "I love sharing my excitement of discovery. By working in a way which is so unique and different, I hope to encourage and inspire the creative spark in each of us. And I hope to help us see where we have been and where we are going. That is what gives mankind continuity of purpose and a sense of future."

Austine recently completed a large mural for the visitors center for the Tijuana Estuary Preserve operated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in San Diego. Also, she recently installed 14 changing images for the new wing of the San Diego Children's Hospital. Her work is on display at numerous galleries and public places.