“ This is not what I expected, ” said one of our art thinkers when we worked together on the artwork “Planes, Rocket, and the Spaces in between” by Amy Sherald.
We had just done an exercise where one of the art thinkers described the artwork to their peers who needed to draw it based on their description only. We had opened the session for feedback where kids who drew were sharing with the describer what would have been helpful to know about the artwork.
During the exercise, kids were allowed to ask questions to get more information about what to draw. They asked a lot of questions about the clothes of the two figures in the artwork. The rainbow dress of the main character was a big hit. “What color is her rainbow dress? How many colors are there? What does she have in her hair? A bow? What color is the bow? What is the other girl wearing? What is the color of her skin?” These are some of the many questions the kids asked the describer. Eventually I guided the conversation to the background. We could have spent the entire session talking about these mysterious characters. Who are they? What is their name? Where are they going? What are they doing? Are they friends or are they related ? So many questions and only a few answers!
The elephant in the room is that there is a big rocket in the background who seems to have difficulty taking off. “ A tiny rocket with a lot of smoke behind it,” said the describer, “and mountains in the back, oh no, there is just more smoke” they added, “and yellow grass, a lot of yellow grass! ” they concluded.
Toward the end of the session, we had a big reveal moment where all the participants showed their art to one another and looked at what others did. There was only one narrative during the session but every art thinker created their own version of “Planes, Rocket, and the Spaces in between”. They have unique renditions of an art piece that invited them to pay attention and listen carefully to instructions. Without knowing, they learned what was most important to know about the art of Amy Sherald.
In her work, Amy Sherald has been drawing ordinary Black people doing everyday things like holding hands or playing, or just resting. Black bodies have often been attached to signs of resistance. By depicting Black people doing ordinary things ( sometimes in an extraordinary landscape like in today’s artwork), Sherald aims to focus on the characters’ humanity and opens new realms in which Black people can see and imagine themselves.
This is exactly what I wanted the art thinkers to remember today: imagine what they want to be without thinking about what people want them to be.
Watch this video to learn more about Amy Sherald’s creative process
Kids.Think.Art 