Aim & Objectives
Introducing a unique cross-disciplinary learning experience, the aim was to empower students to understand art and get over the fear of drawing and creating art of their own. Through this lesson, we not only introduced complex concepts of ‘Self’, but also introduced the students to various self-portraits of artists – past and present. In order to equip them with the idea that art is a form expression, we nurtured their thinking to look at their true self to produce a self image not focused on beauty but their own emotional realities.
Meraki: Exploring the Self introduced students to the complex concept of ‘Self’ along with a practical experience of producing their own self-image. They learnt the iceberg model of the conscious, subconscious and unconscious aspects of their ld, Ego and Superego and delved into their own personal experiences to understand their truest self.
Meraki: Exploring the Self introduced students to the complex concept of ‘Self’ along with a practical experience of producing their own self-image. They learnt the iceberg model of the conscious, subconscious and unconscious aspects of their ld, Ego and Superego and delved into their own personal experiences to understand their truest self.
Learning Outcomes
Students with no artistic experience were also introduced to various artists and their unique styles of creating self-portraits. They understood that while Freida Kahlo’s style was more abstract and colourful, there were also other artists like Ravi Varma who focused on producing seemingly beautiful representations of human figures. While exploring various artistic styles, they were encouraged to discover their own style of art, and create self-portraits which married the 2 subjects they were learning – Psychology and Art.
Process for the Lesson
The students were first introduced to the concept of ‘Self and explained the iceberg model of conscious, subconscious and unconscious layers of the mind.
They fully grasped the theory of Id, Ego and Superego.
They were next encouraged to find an artist, style and self-portrait that appealed to them from various artists across ages and disciplines like Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Dali to Anjali Ela Menon, Jamini Roy among many others. The students were asked to present the self-portrait along with an explanation of why it appealed to them in a quick oral presentation. They explained their understanding of the era, artist, and emotion that led to this style of expression.
As a final part of the lesson, the students were encouraged to create their own self-portraits. As the students came from a non-art background, they were introduced to various media to utilize whatever materials were on hand. They used artistic materials like paints, water colours, as well as seemingly non artistic materials like newspapers, coffee stains to produce their portraits. In situations where there were no materials, all students were also given live demos of how to use free digital art softwares like Krita, Sketchbook, Ibis Paint. Finally, the students presented their self-portraits and explained their style and expression of ‘Self’.
They fully grasped the theory of Id, Ego and Superego.
They were next encouraged to find an artist, style and self-portrait that appealed to them from various artists across ages and disciplines like Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Dali to Anjali Ela Menon, Jamini Roy among many others. The students were asked to present the self-portrait along with an explanation of why it appealed to them in a quick oral presentation. They explained their understanding of the era, artist, and emotion that led to this style of expression.
As a final part of the lesson, the students were encouraged to create their own self-portraits. As the students came from a non-art background, they were introduced to various media to utilize whatever materials were on hand. They used artistic materials like paints, water colours, as well as seemingly non artistic materials like newspapers, coffee stains to produce their portraits. In situations where there were no materials, all students were also given live demos of how to use free digital art softwares like Krita, Sketchbook, Ibis Paint. Finally, the students presented their self-portraits and explained their style and expression of ‘Self’.
