Drawn/Taped/Burned

Yesterday the girls and I headed down to the Katonah Museum of Art to see their latest exhibit, "Drawn /Taped /Burned: Abstration on Paper." Of course, it was interesting and sparked many discussions about the definition of art, which in this case was really more about process than product. Click here to see some of the works currently on display. Some of our favorites were "Reverse Polarities" by Jason Peters, a piece constructed of long fluorescent light bulbs and a black mirror which was in a room all by itself, and the untitled piece made from painters tape by Christine Hiebert.

The museum is small, really only two main exhibit rooms, but they have a great arts-and-crafts room for kids. Even though my girls are older, we mosied in there to see the drawings by Peter H. Reynolds, author and illustrator. His two most notable picture books are titled Ish and The Dot, both about making your own mark and being satisfied with it because it is uniquely yours. (He will be visiting the museum on April 3rd.)

Below is a template drawn by Peter Reynolds and provided by the museum to get the kids started. The craft of the day was using painters tape to make some art, so the girls and I dove right in!

And this is my first piece. It's all tape, except for the central piece which was a textured and metallic paper.
Here is my next piece, sort of a mosaic. It was really fun working with the tape. They had so many different colors, and it's so quick and easy to just rip pieces off and stick them anywhere. It was a good exercise in not overthinking and overplanning - just doing. It was also a good exercise in seeing and using the negative space around a shape or shapes.
This last piece was collaborative. I gave two of my girls strips of tape and I took a third. When I said "Go!" we all started ripping and sticking until our tape was used up. "Look at that energy, that movement!"
Tomorrow we are heading into NYC to visit the Museum of Modern Art - another opportunity for learning, inspiration, and discussion!