What happens when children look in the mirror to draw themselves? And what happens when a group of children has to build a piece together that represents all of them?
Art education in primary school is often thought of as a place to learn techniques, and it is. But it is also a place where children learn to look at themselves, to look at others and to do things as a group. Two projects we have done at Traç with children aged five to eleven help us explain it: a self-portrait in India ink and totems built as a group.
What does a child learn when making a self-portrait?
In our Drawing and painting (elementary) workshop, with children from 2nd to 5th grade, we suggested a self-portrait in India ink. The exercise asked them to observe themselves carefully: where the eyes sit in relation to the ears, how long the nose is, what shape the face has. Working on proportions and dimensions makes you look at yourself in a way you rarely do.
Then, with scraps of painted paper, each child made a frame for their portrait. The frame gave contrast to the black and white drawing and, at the same time, could say something more about who made it: the colors and shapes each one chose.
A self-portrait is not only a drawing exercise: it is also a moment to stop and look at yourself calmly. And when all the portraits are hung together, something else appears: a group in which every face is different.
And what is a totem, and why build one at school?
Totems are vertical structures that represent symbols, animals or other elements. Different cultures have used them to represent their ancestors, their beliefs and what mattered to their community. This idea, of a piece that represents a group, was the starting point of the totems made in 2023 by the five to seven-year-olds in Visual arts creation (preschool).
Each child chose the shape of their piece, often abstract in appearance but with a very personal meaning. We worked with newspaper, cardboard and plaster bandage, and as a last step each child chose the color of their piece. Then the pieces were put together: each totem belongs to a class group.
The totem only exists when all the pieces are there. No piece matters more than another, and nobody could have made the result alone. Building it is a way of understanding, with your hands, what it means to be part of a community and to work as a team.
What do two such different projects have in common?
One looks inward and the other outward. The self-portrait asks each child to observe themselves and show themselves as they see themselves; the totem asks them to bring a part of themselves to something bigger. At Traç, we believe art education needs both: spaces to discover who we are and spaces to learn to create with others.
In both cases, the value is not only in the finished work. It is also in the conversation while drawing, in deciding which color to use, in waiting for the plaster to dry and in the moment of seeing your own piece next to your classmates’ pieces.
Looking at ourselves and making a group are two ways of learning that begin very early, and art can be a good place to practice them.
Here are some pictures of the totems!
