Actual bathing suit added  See detail    See a close up of this self portrait       Very expressive faces  using chip board
       
 Chipboard cut and shaped for hands
                      
                                                              Smaller sculptures added to the story     Some students paired up
Resources:

Here is an artist from India that can spark an idea for many projects. C. Jagdish is an avant garde sculptor who has created a new genre called ' paper sculpture'.
C Jagdish - from India:
http://www.alankritha.com/Jagdish%20C.htm 
C Jagdish 
http://www.degraaffineart.com/degraaf3/jagdish.html

See collage, masks, paper sculpture (really neat), and doors (made from cardboard with folk art look).

Use for a  contemporary mask maker - take a look at the sculptures on his site - they are really
interesting (look like you could do them with paper mache- paper pulp and cardboard) 

C. Jagdish has created over 400 paper sculpture. They are in private collections all over the world. He is today a tri-continental artist sharing time between his shows, lectures and art meetings across America, Europe and Asia.

The basic lower frame of the sculpture , that are life size or larger, is made of heavy rolled paper which gives it a cylindrical shape. The upper part from the head to the torso is separately cast and adjoined. Finally to facilitate
painting of arms, legs , clothing etc., paper is cut and pasted.

Combine with a unit about Marisol Escobar 

Procedures:

Lesson plan to come on this one.... Melissa is the kind of middle school teacher who asks herself this question first "Would I have fund doing this if I were a middle school student?"  She was intrigued by the work of  C. Jagdish right away and began looking for materials she could use. Her first stop was the copy room where there was a stack of empty photocopy paper boxes (get your custodians to save these for you -- they are great for so many projects). She found more than enough for her eighth graders. Her assignment was simply to create some kind of character - no restrictions. Several chose to do self portrait sculptures.  Some students chose to work in pairs and made taller people. For some students, it is just the making of something that is important and they don't need the project to take home. Student who work in groups will have to decide who gets the finished work. 

Melissa studied the faces of Jagdish's work and decided that folded and cut chip board would work to create the abstract cubist look (Jagdish uses cast paper). Students quickly padded the shoulders and shaped their heads with wadded up newspapers. Be sure to have plenty of masking tape on hand. Heavy duty aluminum foil can work wonders to help smooth shapes out, if desired. 

What other materials might you be able to use? Maybe some larger size vegetable/fruit cans can work for necks - roll of cardboard for neck ... Five gallon ice cream containers from Baskin and Robbins (or any local Ice cream parlor)....Corrugated cardboard scored and bent into a column for the body-- so many possibilities! If you decide to use balloons as a base to get heads going -- with cardboard or chip board faces taped to the front - then I would suggest a first layer of plaster gauze strips since balloons do shrink after a day of two (another layer of paper mache can be applied over the plaster). Whatever materials you decide to use - do not expect students to remember to bring them in (smile) -- you will send mom's scurrying to the grocery store at midnight only to find all boxes have been burned already.

Working rather quickly -- smooth strips of newspaper dipped in paste over the entire armature. If you have enough brown paper bags, you could use those, but soak over night. You second layer can be end rolls of paper toweling (ask your custodian to save those for you too). Arms can be added keeping rather flat and abstract as Jagdish has. Notice the cardboard "Peace" hand on example above. Note: Flour and water, Elmer's glue (thinned with water) - or kid safe wheat paste gives you a harder finish needed for this project.

Paint in acrylics. Melissa's goal was for students to get that subtle shading that Jagdish uses. See how some of the near finished work has a slight cubist look to the faces (one side darker than the other). Glass globules have been inserted for the iris of the eyes (see detail) - quite spectacular! Updates to this lesson to come....but for now enjoy and imagine the possibilities for your classroom!

[FILES FOR SHARING]