Communication

When information is shared accurately and clearly, the end result is more effective.

1 October 2018

With so much crossover between disciplines of communication and art, I looked to cultures and time periods with highly symbolic art for the kids to learn more about. There are so many to choose from, but the art of the First Nations and Native American tribes of North America’s Northwest Coast provide a very accessible and visually distinctive contemporary example of art that expresses culture and communicates identity. We started with one type of Northwest Coast art - totem poles - to examine totem animals, both real and legendary, and their meanings within these communities, as well as the formal qualities that make Northwest Coast art so easily recognisable amongst the artwork of indigenous North American peoples.

Grade 7 students looked into the symbolism of various totem animals, including the powerful thunderbird and shape-shifting sisiutl, before thinking about which animal they felt most closely aligned with their own unique constellation of individual qualities. With the totem animal they chose to represent them, they created a charcoal study based on images created by prominent Northwest Coast artists.

Our printing materials didn’t arrive in time for us to make lino prints, so instead we practiced flat colour painting to achieve a more print-like quality. For their paintings, students gave greater consideration to traditional colours used in Northwest Coast Art and their meanings.