In week 2 we began our examination of the work of Mirka Mora by beginning with a self-portrait. Artists often use their self-portraits to show the world who they and highlight those parts of themselves that are important to them. They often place themselves in a scene or surround themselves in things that are important to them. We explored the self-portraits of Mirka Mora and noticed that she often surrounds herself with creatures. We also learnt that she hears notes and sees colours together.
This week we created a self-portrait using music to help us to daydream. During this term’s Visual Art Inquiry, an important aspect of our exploration into the world of Mirka Mora will be the understanding of her artistic process. We examined the way Mirka used meditation and day dreaming to find her own way in her work. “For Mirka, most days included reading, drawing, painting and … daydreaming.”(Heide Education resource)
At his time in our lives, it is important to think about how we spend our day? Mirka Mora talked about how she lost track of time when she was painting or making art. She would enter this other world and her mind and hands were working together in a kind of flow, and everything else seemed to disappear. For Mirka Mora this was her form of meditation while working. It was through her work that she discovered so much about herself, her inner feelings and thoughts. Daily life was interwoven with her art. “What you see on the canvas or on a sketchbook page are thoughts about her life and the world around her. Her art is like a visual diary, (or sketchbook) blending her thoughts and feelings about family and love, and happiness and joy and life.”
Here are some amazing examples of the responses from students this week. They listened to music while creating their self-portraits and had a glimpse into the world of daydreaming while creating. Students focused on mark making, quality of line and highlighting detail. The results were amazing:
Prep
Here are Elspeth’s and Pola’s delightful portraits.
Year 1
Marlo focused on creating a self-portrait and also created a study of himself sitting for his self-portrait! The artist finds a way to help us to see the world from many perspectives!
Coco created a self-portrait inspired by Mirka Mora’s work!
Owen and Huon drew on their skills from last term and created continuous line self portraits!
Year 2
Ebony created a very carefully observed self-portrait
Louis created an amazing self-portrait that reminds me of Picasso’s continuous line drawings of animals. He reduces the drawing to its bare bones and they are the strongest and most amazing drawings I have seen.
Here are two beautiful self-portraits created by Charlotte and Archie in Year 3.
Ben and Gabriel (Year 4) carefully observed their features, capturing their self-portrait with great attention and care.
Kelly (Year 5) took the time to ensure her features remained true to her. From the detail in her eyebrows to the subtle lines mimicking movement in her hair. A truly wonderful drawing.
Mabel (Year 6) brought herself to life with the help of intentional colour use and effective shadowing.
