Fifth Grade: Wire Figures

The fifth graders had been learning about figures and gesture.  Our first project was inspired by the playful figurative art of Keith Haring.  For our second project we moved from 2D figures to 3D.  After reviewing body proportion and gesture we made "stick figures" out of aluminum wire. The students made their own figure as I modeled each step.  One of the most important parts of this step is getting the proportion right.  They didn't want their figure to end up with Gorilla arms or T-rex arms.   If they used too much of the wire for the arms and torso they would run out of wire for the legs.

When their wire figure was completed we talked about how they could individualize their sculptures by adding hair, clothes and accessories.  They could opt to fill in the head and hands with aluminum foil.  After a demonstration of basic techniques on how to wrap and secure the pipe cleaners and tissue paper it was their turn to use their imaginations and create their own characters.  Chenille stems were used as a base (shirt/pants/skirt) and tissue paper, construction paper, pom poms and other odds and ends were available for detailing.

The final step to the project was deciding on a basic pose and then the figure was stapled to a wood base.  The pose could be changed or adjusted as desired.