Year 9A Visual Art - Self Portrait Clay Sculpture 2021

Year 9A VISUAL ART Self Portrait Clay Sculpture

Artist:

Holly G

Artist Statement I have created an abstract self portrait of myself by using slabs, coils, scratch and scoring and slip to join clay objects I have created together. I have not included any facial features and have an open cut head with plants and chocolate flowing out of it. This includes vines, to symbolise growth, flowers to symbolise love and purity, mushrooms to symbolise nature and how everything is connected, and chocolate, because I love chocolate. I have used Frida Kahlo as my inspiration. I have used her to influence my ideas by having an open cut head and including flowers. In most of her works, Frida Kahlo used flowers a lot, as well as using skulls to focus on the brokenness of the human body.

These reasons are why I am including things of nature, something I love and having an open cut head with these things flowing out of it.

Artist:

Evie E

Artist Statement I have created this expressive clay self-portrait piece to display my interest and. Personality. This piece is about happiness and me, the floral pattern across the chest is a mandala henna design.

I have always liked henna and mandala drawings and often have them done on my hands and arms.

I have added this to my sculpture by scratching and engraving patterns into the clay. I have used a series of different types of flowers like sunflowers and daisies to represent content and happiness in the pattern. I have also planned to colour the pattern yellow because it is a symbol of happiness.

I have also created a smooth flowing texture of hair at the back with beachy waves in the clay, this it in reference to the amount of time I spend out on the water and sailing which makes my hair go curly.

Artist:

Daniela H

Artist Statement The foundation of my clay sculpture is based around significant aspects of my life and personality.

My sculpture is a direct reflection of my memories and individuality through symbolic features. The scratch and score method has been applied throughout the sculpture process and proven to work efficiently. A protruding heart has been attached to the left side of chest with a cross carved in to symbolise my close Christian faith. A pair of shoes will be incorporated to represent the aspirations I carry to advance in athletics with an aeroplane located on the hair implying a connection between two countries (Australia and South Africa), and how it has moulded my characteristics and behaviours.

Strains have been experienced with cracking and hardening of dried clay; however, solutions have been employed. Slip has been applied to resolve cracked areas and application of water has proven successful in softening the clay for manipulation. Overall, Ah Xian influenced the creation of my sculpture as his practice explores the human form as a cultural, historical, and reflective entity, inspiring myself to incorporate pieces which symbolise my cultural diversity and comforts. Natural human form was attempted to reflect a simple self-portrait where the observer’s eyes are drawn to the objects which give true meaning and aren’t distracted by the unfamiliar form of the sculpture.

Messy texture has been incorporated in the design to represent the realistic feel of hair, portraying the ‘cover’ as perfectly imperfect. Lastly, imbalance has been manipulated in the plane to give the meaning of instability when immigrating.

Artist:

Charlotte H

Artist Statement I have created a self-portrait out of clay, which represents my loves and passions. Techniques I used were scratch and score to merge everything, slabs to create my shoulders, neck, and face, and coils to create leverage in my neck. The elements of art I used were shape, I used this on the top of my head with different shapes such as triangles, stars, lines, etc. I used the shapes to represent creativity.

Another element of art I used was texture, I show this in my hair as I put singular lines at different depths. I chose to make texture in my project as it makes it look more three-dimensional. Principals of art I used were emphasis, rhythm, and contrast. Emphasis was used on the neck and the netball bib for representing my sporting commitments. The rhythm was used in the hair with all the separate lines and contrast was used for shapes on the hair to show different creativity in the artwork.

The symbols in my artwork discuss the artist I was focusing on and through my passions. I included a gender equality symbol on my shoulder as I am very passionate about gender equality. Relating to this I have not added a mouth, I chose to make this a metaphor for being silenced. As a female in society, our opinion is not being as appreciated as male opinions are, thus the idea for not including a mouth. Another key factor is the volleyball through the neck and the netball bib. I have added these due to my love for physical activity. The volleyball through the neck shows that I have been playing volleyball for a large amount of time that it has become a part of me. I have chosen to add these, as my focus artist (Ah Xian) used sly metaphors to show his interest in many of his artworks. Thus, I have challenged myself to try to add subtle metaphors throughout my artwork.

Artist:

Sophie H

Artist Statement My sculpture is a clay self-portrait bust with symbolic elements that represent me. Throughout the process of making, I used the methods of scratch, score, slip, stick & smooth, coiling, and slabs to create structure. The main element I used in my sculpture was form, this was carried out through the structure of my 3D symbolic elements. Form is significant as it helps create the effect of contrast and emphasis on the symbols in my artwork. The elements on my portrait are softball, soccer ball, and sailing for my passions for the sports. The palm trees, starfish and paper plane represent my desire for traveling. And a paintbrush for art and planet for fascination of space. Frida Kahlo inspired my sculpture through her use of specific symbolism that reflects herself. This inspired me to think about my passions and life in order to create meaningful symbols.

Artist:

Milana I

Artist Statement I created a self-sculpture of myself from clay. The sculpture isn’t a picture perfect portrait and this was done purposefully. Every element on this sculpture has a personal attachment towards me including the tie, pixie ears, animal paw and the lightning bolt. The tie is a symbol of my craftiness and out of this world creativity. I may not be a mathematical or scientific mastermind but I can tell you that I am a huge superhero nerd. The pixie ears symbolize my love for mythical creatures, fantasy/magical movies and uniqueness. The animal paw represents my love for animals while the lightning bolt represents my love for superheros. I used the lightning to symbolize power and how every hero has a power from mutation to epic substances that forms from their hands. My inspiration was Frida Kahlo who, although she is a painter, every sensational creation has meaning and a story.

Artist:

Emily K

Artist Statement To create the bust sculpture the medium used was clay. To transform a mediocre block of clay into an extravagant, expressive, symbolic statue it was required that a strong base was constructed so the head would be supported. After the bade, shoulders and neck were constructed I was able to move onto the head where more detail and statement can be added. the process of scratch, slip, stick and smooth was used to secure different slabs and details of the clay to the main structure. Elements and principles of art such as form, texture, emphasis and unity were used to achieve comprehensive and meaningful representations. These elements can be seen in the ties between separate pieces on the sculpture, carving and scratching away into the main structure to provide more detail such as in the escape above the eye. I have chosen to carve out the top left corner of my face to provide a more abstract representation of me, including the plane bursting out of this space provides story and represents my longing to travel and see the world. The plane and the escape above my eye go hand in hand. I have chosen to draw inspiration from Frida Kahlo and Ah Xian.

Artist:

Sophie L

Artist Statement My sculpture is a realistic self-portrait sculpture with pieces of my personality fluttering around it. I have included butterflies to represent youth and being young, as that is a typical representation for children and youth. I also included bees to represent that I am a hard worker, and it shows my brain buzzing with thoughts and I have also included daisies, to represent my dog daisy and her innocents and purity. In this porject, I used the techniques of smoothing, cutting, joining with crosshatching and slip. I also used various tools to carve and shape the face and body. I used slabs to build the torse base and then coiled up to build up the shoulders and base. I took inspiration from the artist Ah Xian by channelling his symbolism and skill. I attempted to make my sculpture look realistic and have kept the head bald like his sculptures are.

Artist:

Ella L

Artist Statement My artwork is a clay bust that symbolises myself. I have used many different techniques to form the sculpture including: score, slip, stick & smooth, coiling (to support walls), slabs (for the base and walls) and air holes within the sculpture to allow for air flow. In my sculpture I have used the element of form to establish the body of my sculpture and the principle of unity to create a fluid movement within my sculpture. Finally, my artwork symbolises a sunflower girl, coming from my love of sunflowers (happy) and the colour yellow, the sunflower seeds symbolise my growth throughout life and the style of character is one of my favourite ways to draw people. So I decided to construct a sunflower cartoon girl to represent me. The sculpture ideas have been inspired by Ah Xian and Frida Kahlo as they use lots of symbolism in their artwork.

Artist:

Grace M

Artist Statement My work is a clay sculpture that has been made over several weeks. I used the method of slabs of clay joined together alongside coiling clay around to build up walls and shape. I smoothed and shaped with a kidney and a sponge. A pinch pot technique was also used for the top of the head which is resting on the ground. My work is representative of me in the almost abstract sense. I used imagery such as my favourite animal and extending to things such as my ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). The first end of the spectrum- favourite things etcetera- were all shown in a literal sense, unlike the other end of the spectrum, which is more symbolic. Form was used to convey the shape of the human body and balance was used to ensure everything fit together cohesively. I was influenced

by Frida Kahlo’s symbolism that is famously used in many of her works. Frida Kahlo’s work influenced my decision to add the few animals to my piece, a symbolic feature Frida Kahlo often uses.

Artist:

Mia M

Artist Statement I have created a self-portrait of myself symbolizing my beliefs and what I love. Items that I have added have used multiple techniques. I have used scratch and scoring to attaches all the different pieces. I have used coils to curve the shoulders into the neck. I have used slip to fill in the cracks that show up after the clay has started to dry. The elements that I have shown is line and texture. I have used line in my sculpture to create the shape of a netball on my chest, my lines have curves to create the shape of a circle. I have used the element texture to make my sculpture more realistic. The principles have used are balance, balanced is used in my sculpture by keeping the sides of my shoulder and my head. The last principle I have used is an emphasis, I have used emphasis to catch the eye of the view towards the netball and bucket hat. I have chosen woman rights because I feel very strongly about having an even life. I have also incorporated netball as I have been playing for a long time now and enjoy it a great deal. I am inspired by Frida Kahlo and am using multiple of her techniques.

Artist:

Tille M

Artist Statement I have created a symbolic sculpture representing my personality, what I enjoy and love. When constructing my sculpture, I used slabs for the base to give it strong support and structure. I used the scratch and score technique when sticking clay/slabs together, for strong grip, then I smoothed it out for a better aesthetic appeal. The principles in this art piece are unity and movement, through using a variety of symbols and features (the cat), along with the realistic size, portraying a lifelike presence which guides the viewer around my sculpture. The elements of form and texture are present in my sculpture, as it is a 3-dimensional figure and demonstrates a variety of textures, from hair to fur and smoothness of skin. Freda Kahlo has inspired me, through her bold style, personality and symbolism exhibited in her artwork; I have carved flowers into my piece, in reference to her.

Artist:

Casey M

Artist Statement I have used shaping and moulding techniques to create a bust of myself, using various items to represent my likes and values. This includes moss because I collect it, bracket fungus because it is my favourite type of fungus, leaves and toadstools because I love nature and dice due to my love of D&D, I have referenced Ah Xian in my sculpture because he doesn’t put faces in his works and uses plants to represent his purpose. I have emphasised the face by making it point upwards towards the viewer and used form to create a three-dimensional meaningful artwork. Slabs were used to create the torso and coiling techniques were used to shape the head. I have made modifications in the design due to underestimation of time limit and the size of the sculpture. These modifications were mainly just cutting down on objects, such as scrapping the cloak and leaf of Lothlorien idea.

Artist:

Elsie P

Artist Statement I created an abstract bust self-portrait clay sculpture by using the method of slabs and coils for the base of the sculpture. Applying slabs and coils reduces of breaking by connecting the slabs together using the method scratch and score. The element that was used in my clay sculpture was ‘texture’ as my clay sculpture isn’t smooth it’s rigged. As for the principle I used ‘unity’ as everything that is added has a purpose to me. The symbols that represent my personality are shown in my sculpture by a heart on my left chest area that symbolises sympathy and love. On my right shoulder there is mask it symbolises that sometimes I feel like I’m wearing a mask. The Spotify logo shown on my right chest symbolises the love I have for music, I was going to add headphones but the shown on my face was too big and wasn’t visible from the front. As the artist Frida Kahlo uses flowers in her painting, I wanted to add a big flower to symbols my face as most of the time my face shows happiness.

Artist:

Kayla R

Artist Statement This sculpture uses both reality and symbolism, with the subject of the symbolism being the things I love. It is a clay sculpture that used slabs for the base and the sides, and coils for the shoulders. The primary element of art used in this project were shape and form, as it uses many different shapes and forms. A large part of my design uses nature (such as flowers), which was inspired by many of Frida Kahlo’s artworks. I also placed a music note on the shoulder to represent my love of music. I chose to place a butterfly on the cheek to represent the transformation of me as a person. I have also included a pencil sitting over the ear to show my love of art, and a moon, pawprint and star to represent my love of my pets and space. I made a couple of changes to my artwork, including adding a crown and button eyes, as well as changing parts of my design due to the limited time.

Artist:

Anya S

Artist Statement This artwork uses different processes and is inspired by many things. I was mostly inspired by nature, by scratching and scoring I added some vines growing across the body in curved lines. Vines symbolise growth, and how I’m growing as a person daily. The vines are emphasised and provide a nice contrast from the flat surface as they are 3D. During the process, I became fond of the Day of the Dead. So, I made my face a sugar skull with ingrained patterns. The skull represent beauty not death like skulls are usually stereotyped to represent it also reminds me of Frida Kahlo, whose work I love. The cracks symbolise some of the challenges I have gone through and give the sculpture a wonderful texture. Lastly, the butterfly represents hope. Overall, I want this piece to feel fun, crazy and extravagant but also put together and stylish.

Artist:

Sophia S

Artist Statement My clay self-portrait uses symbols to express my personality. The butterflies down my collarbone represent change, as well as referencing a book, showcasing my love of reading.

The compass rose on my other shoulder symbolises my love of travel, exploration and photography.

While the mask represents logical and emotional thinking. I was inspired by Frida Kahlo’s use of obvious and hidden messages in her portraits to show my own symbols that give meaning to my sculpture. Minimal textures and detail accent the calm and quiet nature of the sculpture, paired with closed eyes, a simple braid. The texture purposefully reflects the intricacies of life such as feelings and the texture of hair. I chose to carve instead of adding clay as I could use finer lines and add depth. I built details off the original sculpture, such as the butterflies, compass rose and mask by using form.

Form helped add shadows and dimension to extend the 3D effect. I’ve used balance by adding elements to each shoulder and using a mask to cover half the face.