CLAY MASKS
BEGINNING 3-D ART
clay, oxides, metallic rubbing compounds & various metal embellishments
One of my favorite clay assignments to throw into the 3-D art curriculum are Masks.
They always turn out amazing,
and the kids love making them.
We build them over newspaper moulds that we make
so that the masks are slightly concave.
And after finishing them we string them so they can be hung for display.
Senior Sunny Kim chose an elongated mould and built this highly expressive piece.
Note the nose piercing and the incredible finish.
Sophomore Amy Wang put a lot of thought into her piece
so that she could convey her message.
Note the cobalt carbonate finish on the left and the red iron oxide on the right,
a great contrast.
Junior Joann Chung also has brought in a lot of contrast through color,
and she played with lots of metal hardware.
We see more metal in senior Adhora Islam's mask.
Look closely and you will see that some of the metals tarnish more than others
in the high fire that we do.
I also really like how Adhore blended rutile with red iron for her finish,
and then glued on beads for more interest.
And then senior Evelyn Aldana brought in a bit of metallic compound over her cobalt finish
for a super cool look.
And don't you just love the happiness she captured in her work?
Terrific job all of you!!
This project reminded me of a mask I made in high school ... one that I intended to invoke "antelope" but it was made with paper mache and never realized what I imagined in my mind's eye.
ReplyDeleteI would have loved trying to make clay masks like these. For instance, I really like the texture that underlies each one, which I assume was achieved by rolling slabs on textured surfaces.
Since they reminded me of my one-time antelope attempt, Adhora and Joann's masks particularly caught my eye. In Adhora's, I especially like the uniformity of texture that is broken by the fracture lines and the fading away around the nose. And Joann's textural mix brings to mind Egyptian hieroglyphs. That they are further embellished with metal makes them all the more appealing.