Surfaces

This lesson was inspired by bas-relief art, in which sculptural elements are used on a flat, wall-mounted surface.

I also asked students to look at some photographs of the surface of the moon. My hope was that they would take inspiration from these irregular, organic formations



Students worked in papier mache on a small cardstock rectangle (20cm x 15cm).  They experimented with making different three dimensional forms through twisting, scrunching and layering their papier mache. Once they were happy with their formation, they allowed the papier mache to dry and then primed their work with gesso.

Students were then given the opportunity to paint their work in a colour scheme of their choice. My only instruction was that the paint should enhance the definition of their raised forms.

Students then took a larger piece of cardstock. They measured the dimensions of their bas-relief and created a border for it.

The borders were coloured with wax crayon. The students explored texture in a different way by making rubbings from any surfaces in the room. Some of the young people decided to put scraps of paper, paperclips and coins under their paper to make for really interesting frames.

The bas-reliefs were then mounted on to the frames. Below are a few completed pieces!