Unit 1: Identity
Artist: Henri Matisse
This studio allowed us to depict a big event in our lives, which essentially helped to shape our identity. I chose the birth of my goddaughter, who is a major part of my life. She is 4 years old and the most amazing four year old on this earth in my opinion. This studio allowed me to display something that added to my identity as godmommy. I chose to put Mariah's name on this and just a few things I felt identified her as well such as Dora the Explorer, Disney Princesses, bows, blocks and a bottle. I would definitely use this studio in my own classroom, whether it is used as a getting to know each other activity or in a subject area. I think this would be an awesome integration craft in the subjects of maybe Social Studies and/or Writing, in which my students are telling a story.
Artist: Chuck Close
This studio has us to tell our identities through an antagonist and protagonist Disney Character. I chose to do Ursula and Princess Tiana. I chose Ursula to show a part of my identity because a big part of Ursula's nature is that she would manipulate people so that she could get what she wanted and she was also mean. I can manipulate people at times by having them doing something I am too lazy to do or something I just do not want to do. Besides the fact that Princess Tiana and I are both African American, I felt that I was most like Princess Tiana. Princess Tiana and I are both determined, hard-working, and humble. I chose to make my art look as though Ursula was trying to manipulate Princess Tiana while Princess Tiana is kissing her frog and reflecting on all the hard-work she has put in to achieve her dream. I would use this studio lesson in my classroom. I don't think I would limit my students to just Disney characters, but they could use this with a Literacy lesson on how two characters in a book may describe them personally then have them write about it. I think it may also be cool to have the students do this to analyze maybe a historical figure they are learning about especially since people are not just one-dimensional.
Artist: William Wegman
This studio lesson had us to depict the identity of a character with personification. I chose to do Cinderella. I put her name in regal silver and gold stickers because of her Queen title. I chose to personify Cinderella as an ant because her stepmother and stepsisters made her feel so small and below them in status. I also chose an ant because ants work so hard on a daily basis and so did Cinderella, which was a huge part of her identity. Another part of this studio was to use mixed media and I was able to incorporate stickers, collage, water colors, construction paper,etc. I think this would be a great studio to use in the classroom when teaching personification since you will be giving relating human attributes to an animal or other objects.