Pottery In Australia Vol 35 No 1 Autumn 1996

Musical Abstractions
Vivian Cohen has combined her passion for musical
instruments, contemporary and ancient, with meticulous and polished techniques.
Article by CHERRY JACOBSEN.
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,~ a child I painted musical instruments ... persistently,
compulsively. The teacher must have instructed us to
aint a vase of flowers, a family holiday on a
beach ... but somehow there would always be a violin alongside
the vase, a cello under the sunshade ... As an adult, at concerts, I
am riveted, not only by the music but also by the fonn, the
colour, the sheer magic of the orchestral instruments.'
In her exhibition at the Holdsworth Gallery last year, the
Japanese Lyre II. Black terrasigillata.
musical forms were confidently made and the unique
beauty of colour and form of the instruments were
sensitively conveyed.
Vivian Cohen's pieces demonstrate interesting usage of
varied media. To achieve an effective synthesis of realism
and symbolism, Cohen has incorporated wood, leather and
string ... and related these to the bold, powerful earthenware
representations of the cello, lyre, violin and didgeridoo.
ISSUE 35/1 AUTUMN 1996 + POTTERY IN AUSTRALIA 45