clay
After a brief introduction to sculpture in Western art, the art elective students were asked to plan out and design a sculpture to produce in clay and plaster. We discussed additive and subtractive sculpture. Building with clay is additive. The students strove to create a work in clay that had some sort of negative space. We had a gallery showing and the kids presented their artwork, and discussed what they had enjoyed doing, what was difficult, and whether or not they thought they would be able recreate their design in plaster.
Plaster Sculptures
Starting with the plaster squares that you see below, the students began carving. They used spoons, knives and sandpaper to create their sculptures. They were told that they needed to make sure that the sculpture included one negative space. For many of them, this proved to be a little tricky. For one student, the task was catastrophic! But all of them tried their best and ended up with works that were varied in design, and fun to look at.