Paper Sculpture

Paper is one of the most readily available and creative materials to use as an artist. It is a material that is incredibly fun to work with, especially when working with children. Children are accustomed to using paper in such utilitarian ways, that its exciting to watch them transform this material.

In this lesson, the girls thought about the ways in which paper can be manipulated into three dimensional sculpture. We focused on the simple shape of a circle to inspire our designs, though you'll see from the work created, the girls also felt confident manipulating the paper to bring their own ideas to life. 

During this class we viewed works by Jen Stark, a young Miami based artist, who creates unbelievably imaginative sculptures in paper. Her work received great acclaim at this year's Art Basel. The group was very interested and inspired by her work, which as a teacher, is always exciting. But my favorite paper works created to date are the ones you'll see below...

Playing Picasso

In our first class this semester, the girls created cubist portraits in the style pioneered by Pablo Picasso and George Braque. The object of this lesson was for the girls to think about how to take a realistic face, pull the pieces apart (eyes, noses, mouths, etc…) and put them back together from a new vantage point. With the girls foundation in abstract art from the last semester, they were pretty well versed (and they toiled me ;) in how to do this. We discussed the cubist movement and the drive behind artists to create art that was different and more interesting than the art that was being created during this time. 

What I think is most important in this lesson is that the girls develop a language for doing things differently. Something I encourage in each class is that art is not necessarily about making works that look a certain way, but it is often about creating works that are interesting, new and pleasing to our eyes. I think you’ll see the works the girls created did just that.