Submitted by: Virginia Nemir Lukefahr, K.E. Little Elementary School, Dickinson ISD
Unit: Design -Textile Art - Kuna Culture
Lesson: Paper Mola- Reverse applique
Grade level: Third grade and up
MATERIALS:
LEARNING
OBJECTIVES:
- Recognize the traditional art form, the mola from
Panama.
- Become
familiar with the history of the mola.
- Understand the use of the elements of design in a
mola: line, shape, and color
- Make choices regarding color in order to create a paper
mola.
- Create a
successful piece of art with balance and pattern.
- Gain experience cutting positive and negative
paper shapes.
RESOURCES:
-
The New Encyclopaedia
Britannica, 1984,vol.8, p.227
-
“Making A Paper Mola” Dick Blick Art Materials Catalog 2004, p.170
-
Adventures in Art: Arts & Crafts Experiences for 8-To 13-Year Olds (Williamson Kids Can! Series)
, Milord, S.,
Charlotte, Vermont: Williamson Publishing, 1997, p.62
-
SRA Art Connections (Level 1)
, Ragans,R,Ph.D and Davis,B.D. et al., Columbus, Ohio:
SRA/McGraw Hill 1998, Level 1, p.108
-
Internet
Resources Molas:
Textile Arts of the Kuna (Cuna) Photographs
by Galen Frysinger
BACKGROUND:
The Cuna Indian Tradition of Making
Molas.
The mola is a unique type of embroidered women’s
blouse created by the Cuna Indians of San Blas, off the eastern coast of
Panama. A mola (meaning
“blouse” in Cuna language) is a brightly colored cloth panel hand
stitched using reverse appliqué technique. The
mola designs are traditionally abstract and based on natural formations
found in coral. The early 19th century Spanish explorers and
settlers may have influenced the Cuna Indians by introducing needle worked
cloth. Recently the designs have expanded to include figurative depictions
of animals, fish, and vegetation that are native to the San Blas islands.
The origin of the mola is unknown but may have come
from pre-Hispanic body painting designs.
The mola is an important part of the Cuna Indian woman’s
traditional costume and is worn with pride.
This lesson plan targets children in the 3rd through
5th grades.
It can be completed in 90 minutes
INTRODUCTION:
Show video Art Is.....Paper Molas
by Peggy Flores (decide how much to show).
Use picture of a mola to refer to during the lesson.
(Refer to SRA Art Connection,
Level 1, p. 108)
National Geographic has some excellent images of the Kuna
(use a CD-Rom
Search of the collection).
SUGGESTED
QUESTIONS:
-
Who has family members or friends that sew clothes, weave
material, crochet, or embroider material?
-
Has
anyone ever made you something special to wear?
-
(refer to
picture of mola) Where can you find repeated colors and shapes in this
mola? Are the shapes on the left half of the mola the same as the
shapes on the right?
-
What does balance
mean to you? (answer: equal or similar elements are placed on the
right and left sides of the picture.)
-
How
does the artist create a balanced design?
-
What is a
positive shape? (answer:
“the area that shapes and forms fill.”) What is the negative
shape? (answer, “the empty area between and around shapes and
forms.”)
-
Where do you see positive and negative shapes?
What shapes are used to create positive and negative spaces?
-
What feeling is created by using positive and
negative shapes?
-
If you could make your own nature design for a
mola what would you choose?
PURPOSE:
Tell the student to create a balanced design from
nature using positive and negative shapes. Then they will use this design
to create a paper mola.
PROCEDURE FOR
CREATING PAPER MOLAS:
1. Decide which color you want to show up the most, and choose that
color of construction paper. Fold
the paper in half. Draw an
outline of an animal such as a butterfly, fish, etc.
Make the shape over-sized. Be
sure the shape goes all the way to the edge of the paper on the folded
side only. Draw a few
vertical oval shapes in the background (as seen in traditional Cuna
designs).
2. Cut out all shapes using scissors. To get in the small rounded shapes crease the paper and cut a
small slit to get your scissors in to the space and snip along the line.
Avoid cutting to the edges of the paper.
3. Place the negative-shaped paper (the sheet from which the cutout
has been removed) over another colored sheet. (Save the positive
shapes--the removed cutouts-- of your design for decorating your mola
later.) Place the two papers
precisely so the corners match up. With a pencil, trace the shape of your
animal onto the bottom sheet. Then remove the top sheet.
Redraw the outline on the bottom sheet about ¼” bigger than
previously traced design. Cut
along this line. Don’t cut through the open sides (see step 2).
4. Do the same again with the third sheet of colored paper. (Note
paper could be stapled or paper clipped at the top to keep them linked
up remove staples when finished).
5.
Sandwich all the layers together, starting with the sheet that is not
cut. On top of this place the first sheet you cut, then the
second and lastly the third. Glue the four layers together in
order. Keep all the outside edges aligned.
6. You can add even more colors to your mola by placing small scraps
of different colored paper inside any of the cut-out openings.
Glue or tape them in place. Animals may be embellished with appliqué
shapes. Repeat colors from the four colors - select additional colors
carefully.
7. You
can also add some of the small positive shapes from colors you have
already cut out from your design.
Glue these on top of your mola
8. Tell how your design is balanced. Tell
how your design shows unity.
VARIATION:
Use colored rectangles of felt to make a mola.
Sketch your design on tracing paper and transfer the design to the
felt.
Note:
Red is the most common color used in molas.
Use it and a combination of bright colors such as holiday green,
lemon yellow, shocking pink, and midnight black.
(or paper clips) - optional 