Difficulty: Explorer (Level 1)
Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese artist, fashion designer and writer. She typically creates sculptures and art installations. However, she also paints, writes poetry and creates video art.
Her eye-catching art uses many bright colours, and she often uses polka dots in her work. Kusama often uses patterns in her art. They represent her mental health struggles and help her deal with them.
As a child growing up in the 1930s and 1940s in Nagoya, Japan, Kusama dealt with an abusive mother. During her childhood, she sometimes had visions of flashes of light or fields of dots.
She started exploring art in the 1950s, using watercolour and oil paint on paper. Around this time, she began experimenting with her signature polka dots, which she calls “infinity nets.” She has said these dots come from the visions she had as a child.
Kusama has lived in Japan, France and New York. Her work, not just in art but also in fashion, film and writing, has been embraced all over the world.
Kusama celebrated her 95th birthday in March.
Kusama-inspired pumpkin sculpture
Materials
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small plastic bag
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5 rubber bands, including at least 4 large ones
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newspaper (large pieces and some cut into strips)
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Scotch tape
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½ cup of white glue
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1 cup of water
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bowl
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paintbrush and acrylic paint
Instructions
1. Scrunch the newspaper and stuff it into the plastic bag until it forms a small ball. Pull the bag tightly shut and secure it closed with a rubber band. Then, wrap the top of the bag with Scotch tape until it looks like the stem of a pumpkin.
2. Wrap the four remaining rubber bands around the stuffed plastic bag so it looks like the sections of a pumpkin.
3. In a bowl, mix half a cup of glue with one cup of water. Soak the strips of newspaper in the mixture, then use them to cover the bag. Make sure the paper overlaps and the bag is totally covered.
4. After you finish covering the pumpkin, use a paintbrush to add a thin layer of the water-glue mixture to the outside of your sculpture.
5. Place your creation in a place where it can dry. This could take around two to three days, so be patient.
6. Now, it’s time to paint. For a true Kusama-inspired pumpkin, start by painting the sculpture yellow. Let it dry. Then paint black polka dots on the sides. However, feel free to get creative. You can use whatever colours you like!
Appreciating art in Hong Kong
There is so much beautiful art all around us, including in our own city. For this project, you will use your creativity and critical thinking skills to analyse and understand art in our city.
Materials
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Pencil
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Paper
Instructions
1. Choose a local museum or gallery that showcases art exhibits. Some popular museums include the Hong Kong Museum of Art or M+. Go with a parent or guardian.
2. At the museum, choose three or four different art pieces and write down your answers to the question prompts below:
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What is my first impression of this art?
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How does this art make me feel?
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What is this art made of? (e.g. paint, clay, chalk)
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Why did the artist choose these materials?
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How is this piece different or unique from other ones I have seen?
3. After writing down your thoughts, read the description of the work that the museum or gallery provides. Does reading the description change some of your answers? How does it help you better understand the piece?
