Sigi and Alethea got together to work on their projects, they were very excited. Firstly we talked about what they understood about the process of sharing their artwork with their new friends in Finland and they were both keen to get started!
They had been learning about identity in school recently so had lots to discuss in regard to what makes each person unique. We gave them the task of staring at each other for as long as possible to see how many differences they could notice – they noted how different they are despite being close in age; Alethea is much taller and has wavy hair, Sigi has freckles and straight hair and they both noticed a difference in skin tone. We discussed molecules, DNA and ancestry as well as the personal experiences they felt have fed into the development of their brains – Alethea talked about her trip to Italy and what she had learn't there and Sigi talked about her experiences in France.
Firstly, as a warm up, the girls looked in mirrors and drew portraits of themselves with pencil. They were intrigued by the graphite printmaking process and we talked about how a 'print' is always slightly different to the original despite it being a 'copy'.
The project was very useful as the girls were able to tie in what they had learned recently at school in Black history month and the histories of oppression which so often surround differences. They were able to tie this in with simple playground ideas of kindness and respect as well as people they considered to be not respectful of difference (they mentioned Donald Trump!). It was great to see them exploring these big ideas whilst working on their prints.
Gudrun Filipska and Lucy Fox (mothers of these two fabulous and artistic people)
Alethea (8 years old) and Sigi (7 years old) live in Fordham, UK. They are making and sharing art with Ella (8 years old) and Anna-Sofia (10 years old) who live in Fordham, UK. Their friendship started in July 2020.