EXPERIMENT WITH VARIOUS MATERIALS AND DESIGN YOUR OWN FANTASTIC FIGURE!
THE FACES OF BEAUTY
INVENT STRANGE HYBRID CREATURES
In association with the exhibition FANTASTIC WOMEN. A mysterious figure sits on a tree stump and appears to be transforming itself into a kind of tree. Its legs are like tree roots and on its head an unusual landscape grows.
HYBRID CREATIONS COMBINING HUMAN, ANIMAL, PLANT AND MECHANICAL ELEMENTS APPEAR FREQUENTLY IN SURREALIST WORKS
Here, the artists were frequently inspired by ancient myths, old stories, fairy tales and dreams. Sometimes they also incorporated very different materials in one and the same work. This created interesting effects, which are unpredictable and can be confusing to the observer.
WHAT YOU NEED: AN EMPTY PLASTIC BOTTLE, TWIGS, NAIL VARNISH, OLD NEWSPAPERS, SCISSORS, SELLOTAPE, A FUNNEL, FINE POTTING COMPOST OR SAND
INTRODUCTION
Allow the compost and plastic bottle to dry overnight by spreading out the compost on newspaper and removing the lid of the bottle. Use the funnel to fill the dry plastic bottle entirely with soil, so it becomes stable and will not tip over. Now paint the body of your fantastic figure onto the bottle (from the feet to the neck) using nail varnish. One or two twigs – the more offshoots they have, the better – will form the head of your figure, so push them deep into the soil. You can then cut out eyes, a nose and a mouth for your figure from large photos of faces in old newspapers. Spread your cut-out features across the twigs and fix them at the back using sellotape.
TIPS
- Instead of cut-outs from old newspapers, you can use your own drawings: Using colored pens on paper, you can design eyes, a nose and a mouth for your fantastic figure and then cut out the individual features
- To paint the body of your figure, you can also use acrylic paint or any other opaque paint
- Are you on a roll and want to continue? Create a profile for your fantastic figure (like a page in your friend book): What is your figure’s name and does it have a nickname? What does it like, what does it not like? Does it have any particular skills? What great adventures has it already had? A photo of your figure completes the profile
