Su san Cohn
With a career spanning nearly forty years, Su san Cohn is an important national figure, leading the way in exploring ideas at the intersection of industrial production and the handmade. Although principally known as a jeweller and metalworker, Cohn’s conceptual practice encompasses the graphic arts, design and installation.
Image credit: Su san Cohn, Dirty, Dull, Dangerous, 2022, UFactory LITE 6 tabletop 6 axis robot arm programmed with 12 tasks, dimensions variable. Courtesy the artist and Anna Schwartz Gallery
In 1980, Cohn had an idea – to provide equipment and accessible studio space that graduates and artisans could rent. This idea became Workshop 3000, which she established with jeweller Dr Marian Hosking and RMIT gold and silversmithing technician Harry Rowlands (1924–93). In 1984, Cohn assumed the role of sole director of Workshop 3000, which moved in 1992 from its original base in Melbourne’s Kirks Lane to its present site in Flinders Lane.
Cohn maintains the original ethos of Workshop 3000 through her willingness to act as a mentor, and offers practical guidance to emerging practitioners. “I had two very supportive mentors: the graphic designer Garry Emery (before I studied gold and silversmithing) and Marian Hosking in the early days of Workshop 3000, who helped me establish my working practice. I have not forgotten what I learnt from these mentors and the many people I have collaborated with over the years,” she asserts.
Depending on Cohn’s schedule, the Workshop 3000 placements can last from six months to five years, and usually involve two makers concurrently in the studio undertaking a project (exhibition or production range). “These mentorships are my small way of contributing to younger makers … I use the parameters and needs of their project to teach them about the various logistics of practice. We learn from each other. This contact with younger makers keeps me connected to the times, to changes in thinking and tastes. At the same time, I need to remember the key basics of building a practice, which helps keep me grounded. Most of all, it is fun working with others.”
Following an international competition, Cohn became the first Australian designer to have work mass-produced by the Italian design firm ... Subscribe to read this article in full
