Bensonhurst Senior Center Blog 5 3/17/22 Flowers & Family Tree

 

Bensonhurst Senior Center

Blog  5  3/17/22

Flowers & Family Tree

As we would be exploring the work of Yayoi Kusama today, we began our class with a “making circles” warm up. Starting with the right hand we gently circled it clockwise, adding the wrist, elbow, and full arm before switching to the left hand and then finally incorporating both arms. We tried moving one arm in a clockwise direction while simultaneously circling the other arm counterclockwise - an excellent activity for stimulating brain function. Next, we rolled our head and neck and then our shoulders. Making sure they were stabilized by holding the back of a chair, our students circled the right foot and then the leg before switching to the left leg. 

In order to finish the “Family Tree” we had to add the cardboard base and then apply colored tissue paper to the tree and the base. Jing Wei and Ru Ping had already colored their trees by using florists’ tape. Pun did not have the colored tissue she wanted for her tree so asked if once the tissue was applied could she change the color by using colored markers. I experimented with my tree, which I had covered in cream tissue and the markers worked well especially if the brush strokes were broad and in the same direction. A mottled effect similar to tree bark could be created by using different colored markers. We are excited to see what Pun will create! Susanna shared her tree which has a great strength due to the long straight branches. On the other hand, Lao Yu’s tree was very delicate, with small, curved branches. Stella had already tissue papered her tree brown and hung the ornaments using red wool. On the topmost branch we saw the beautiful, crocheted flowers So Sim made all of us. 

Yayoi Kusama is a fascinating Japanese contemporary artist who mainly works in sculpture and installation but is also a painter, performance artist, and poet. Last year her large-scale sculptures were on display at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens in an exhibition called Cosmic Nature. We screen shared images of her and her work, encouraging our students to comment on what they saw in her work and the effect it had on them. Jing Wei and Ru Ping had both visited the exhibition. 

Using our sketchbooks and the Micron 03 pen we drew circles repeatedly within a frame. Next, we blackened the spaces between the circles, then added smaller circles inside some of the larger circles. Finally, we added color using the colored marker and selectively colored some circles to create a pattern. This meditative exercise was accompanied by music, however we needed to rub our eyes when finished as we’d been focused on the small circles for so long. We encourage our students to complete this activity for homework and to also take a photo of their completed “Family Tree” adorned with their family photo ornaments and share on WeChat.