Louise Nevelson Assemblages

Ah, Louise Nevelson. You magnificently eccentric and wonderful woman. She is a go to for me and has been for years. It sometimes feels cheap to reduce her to just a minimalist abstract sculptor. There's so much to her work but I enjoy introducing my tiny humans to her, even if it's in a simplified manner. If you've kept up with any of my past posts you know that I try to teach my students about good stewardship, conserving materials, using materials wisely, and creative reuse. This project touches on all of these points plus we get to learn about Nevelson.

This is my set up- paper mats, a bucket full of "trash", and tacky glue with popsicle sticks.

Using a cardboard base, the kiddos choose wood scraps first (scavenged from the Scrap Exchange) and build a base. I try to keep the wood level no higher than two pieces but that doesn't always work! After the initial scrap layer we add the caps, small scraps, lids, beads, and other junk. They require several days of drying- I mean, look at that amount of tacky glue!

With our second meeting I introduce the students to monochromatic color schemes. They choose a foundation color and four or five varieties of that foundation. 

They paint and paint until every inch is covered. Multiple layers are required on some of the materials but surprisingly everything is covered easily.

Once the assemblages were completely dry I added a paper clip hook with hot glue. These were displayed on a bulletin board for a solid month before sending them home and there were no problems with the hooks pulling off from the cardboard. I really love the variation in color because of their chosen palettes. I love Nevelsons stark colors but it was fun to punch it up with color for the kiddos. Happy making!