Second Grade Paper Sculpture Day 2- Colors, Scissors, and a Base!

For the second graders’ first unit this year we started thinking about how sculpture is different from other types of art such as painting and drawing.  We examined artist Alexander Calder’s sculpture Flamingo and compared it to one of his paintings of a sculpture.   We decided they were different because a sculpture has form and is considered 3D, while a painting is 2D and does not have form. 

While looking at Calder’s sculpture, we also noticed how every part is important to the viewer and needs to be considered during the art making process.  The first day we started with paper strips and no base to practice techniques such as folding, bending, curling, and twisting our shapes to transform them from 2D to 3D.  The work you see here is from the second day when we were given a base to hold up our sculpture, scissors, glue, and multiples size paper strips.  We also got inspiration from the book below One Red Dot by David A. Carter and discussed different paper cutting techniques he might have used as well as using color to help the eye move around a piece of art.  Coming up, we will be using different art materials to make sculptures that are more durable and focus on the important role balance plays in sculptures.