Mythological Self Portraits
This project is inspired by the transformative power of fashion design. The students looked at artist Wangechi Mutu’s collages and Alexander McQueen’s 2010 spring collection to create unique costume designs inspired by mythology. I prompted the students to take a picture in an action pose and using magazine paper, transform themselves into mythological characters. The art criteria for this assignment includes converting magazine images into clothing, cutting detailed outlines and layering paper to depict a surreal illusion. The language objective for this project was to write an artist statement describing the mythological character’s power and origin story. The SEL prompt encouraged students to become more cognizant of the emotion they wanted to express in the work by embodying it in their pose and facial expression. They were encouraged to create a costume that emphasized this expression. The project culminated in collages that reveal, in part, an inner self that is not as visible in everyday clothing.
7th Grade, Photographs, Magazine Paper and Watercolor on Watercolor Paper, 9” x 12”
