Alexander Calder Inspired Coat Hanger Sculptured Portraits

Wire coat hangers, florist wire and pipe cleaners

The students were exploring the work of Alexander Calder (American artist) and his amazing skills with manipulating wire to create a range of art including mobiles, sound mobiles and portraits and animals in a variety of ways, especially horses to make these Alexander Calder Inspired Wire Sculptured Portraits.

Alexander Calder is known for inventing wire sculptures and the mobile, a type of kinetic art which relied on careful weighting to achieve balance and suspension in the air. Initially Calder used motors to make his works move, but soon abandoned this method and began using air currents alone.

The students were given the opportunity to create a portrait of either an animal or person drawing one continuous line in their sketchbooks to develop the skill of making lines in a variety of ways. They then used a wire coat hanger as the base for their sculpture and manipulated it into the shape they wanted for the face. Students used a variety of techniques and materials such as florist wire or pipe cleaners of different colours to create the facial features to enhance their work.
Year 6
St.Simons The Apostle Primary School, Rowville