Middle School Louise Nevelson-Inspired Relief Sculpture

I have come to admire the work of Louise Nevelson more and more over the years. Her large-scale assemblages of castoff wooden objects resonate with a viewer through the familiar contours of the forms combined into a monochromatic landscape of enclosed spaces.

Students worked on a 10" x 20" sheet of foamcore. They were encouraged to look through their own "junk drawer" at home to look for castaway objects to include in their work. Of course, I contributed several boxes full of the castaway treasures that seem to magically multiply in my storage room at school! Objects were attached with hot glue and painted with a tint or shade of acrylic paint (straight hues were off-limits as we explored value as a color property).

We identified the design principles of unity, rhythm and balance as being especially important in our compositions, and focused on these as we progressed in our work. These are quite interesting pieces to comprehend, but unfortunately also quite non-photogenic!