Students read the poem, "We Wear the Mask," by Paul Laurence Dunbar. Then, they filled out a questionnaire about their background, their likes/dislikes, what they think people see and think about them, and what they DON'T want people to see or think about them. This questionnaire's purpose was to help students think abstractly and metaphorically about themselves. Some students took the lesson and poem to heart and created a mask that represents themselves. Others just made a mask. Either way, we learned about form, proportion, and balance, and these masks came out pretty awesome, if I may say so myself!
No kiln, no worries; we used self-hardening clay, watercolors, and matte Mod Podge. Masks were formed using a crude form made up of rolled newspaper and taped to hold it's shape. The clay was flattened to about 1/4" and draped over the form, then molded to make the mask. Students added facial features and/or symbols for their masks. Because of the nature of self-hardening clay, some pieces had to be re-attached with hot glue. I would prefer to do this with ceramics, but in a time crunch, this process took less than a week to complete.
Materials: 10-11 oz self-hardening clay, newspaper, masking tape, clay tools, wax paper (for working surface), watercolors, matte Mod Podge
