The Edinburgh Orchestral Ensemble's artist in residence caught the essence of the rehearsal on Monday night in her pencil sketch entitled 'Dissonant Vortex'. Sara is the youngest artist in residence attached to an orchestra anywhere in the world but has already established herself as a master of pastel and ink drawing and also of collage. Not limited to a two dimensional canvas, young Sara has produced several installations with inspired use made of glue and recycled cardboard. Some of her early work expressed itself in primitive forms, beautifully captured in the vivid primary colours of playdough.
The elements in her latest masterpiece symbolise the sounds and process of intense rehearsal with the central whirlwind spiralling out of control taking with it the musicians' instruments, ensuring an end to the nightmares of the composer. Dvorak is depicted in the drawing as the bodyless 'cello, slowly spinning in his after life. The random notes joining in the melee are being issued from the 3rd flute and represent a link between the fantasy of the composition and the reality of the event.
Sara has clevery drawn the musicians as tiny stick people stretching their arms upwards towards their disappearing instruments, showing that the perfect performance of the piece is still not within their grasp. One musician is missing his head to show that the majority are quite sane individuals. At the centre is the conductor singing the part of the missing timpani.
The work is 5cm x 5cm (pencil on crushed cartridge paper).