@The Arts Unit Creative Classes
Home – Imprinted memory – Jonathan Jones
Explore connection to place through printmaking
Student visual arts resource developed by The Arts Unit in collaboration with the Art Gallery of New South Wales and Wiradjuri/Kamilaroi artist Jonathan Jones
Years 3 to 6 visual arts
What will I learn?
You will:
listen to Wiradjuri/Kamilaroi artist Jonathan Jones speak about his artwork barrangal dyara (skin and bones), 2016
think about places and buildings that are important to yourself and others
create an artwork inspired by your connection or memory to a building
reflect on your connection to this place and why it is important to you.
In this lesson, we will learn from Wiradjuri/Kamilaroi artist Jonathan Jones and gain insight into his inspirations, connections and processes for creating his artworks.
I’ve got a question for you – what are some of your favourite places in the whole world? It could be near where you live, a place you visited on holiday or even your favourite building in the school.
Today, we’ll be thinking about how our memories and experiences make places important to us. You’ll get to choose a building that’s important to you and make an artwork to show your connection to that building.
We hope you enjoy this creative trip down memory lane.
Before you begin
You’ll need:
an image (A4 size) of a building that’s important to you or that you have a connection to. This could be a printed picture, photo or a newspaper or magazine image
an inkpad or diluted acrylic paint. Dark colours tend to work best for making this print because they show the most contrast.
A3 paper and scissors
newspaper or plastic to protect the table
a small amount of blu tack.
Learn
Watch the following 2 videos to hear from Wiradjuri/Kamilaroi artist Jonathan Jones about his thoughts, process and connection to his artwork barrangal dyara (skin and bones), 2016 and the Garden Palace, the building that inspired his artwork.
Indigenous art and language – Behind the News
Duration: 02:54Jonathan Jones – barrangal dyara (skin and bones), 2016
Duration: 02:29In groups or by yourself, discuss or write your answers to the following questions:
What do you notice about:
the sounds in the artwork?
the shapes in the artwork?
the objects used in the artwork?
the location of the artwork?
What connection does artist Jonathan Jones and the school students from Parkes have to the Garden Palace?
Think and find
Think about your favourite places and the memories that these places hold.
They could be good, bad or funny memories or a place and memories that remind you of a major event in your life.
Pick 1 of those places and think about a building that is associated with that place. You will need to choose 1 building that has meaning to you, to use for your artwork activity.
Maybe it’s somewhere in your neighbourhood or a place where you like to spend time or do your favourite activities.
It could be:
your house or the house of a family member or friend
the hospital where you were born
an historic or famous building in your town, suburb or city.
your school, sports club or dance studio
a museum or local attraction
a place of worship.
Find an image of your building – you could search online, take a photograph, or use a picture from a newspaper or magazine. If you find a photograph, make sure you ask if it’s okay to use – it’s a good idea to make a photocopy just in case.
Print or photocopy your image so that it is A4 size.
Create
Watch the artmaking video with Wiradjuri/Kamilaroi Artist Jonathon Jones as he explains how we are going to create an artwork inspired by techniques associated with his artwork barrangal dyara (skin and bones), 2016.
Listen to Jonathan explain why he chose his building for this activity.
Look closely at the other artworks by Jonathan Jones, nguram-bang-dyuray (country-having), 2017, in the video. These works include images of historic buildings and sites from rural NSW. Jonathan has manipulated the images to incorporate symbols and imagery connected to his Aboriginal identity.
After watching the video follow the instructions below to create your own artwork inspired by your favourite building.
We look forward to seeing your creation!
Home 2017 – virtual artmaking with Jonathan Jones
Duration: 16:11Instructions
Step 1 - Make a stencil
Using scissors, carefully cut around the outline edge of your building, cutting out the sky and the ground.
Notice the different shapes and features of your building – look for the roof, chimney, walls and other special details that help you recognise the building.
Step 2 - Apply blu tack
Once you’ve cut out your stencil, flip it over and put a tiny amount of blu tack on all the corners of your building so that when you put your stencil on the paper, it will stay in place while you’re working.
Step 3 - Position on paper
Choose which way you want your building to sit on the paper. Do you want it landscape (horizontal) or portrait (vertical)?
Consider where on the paper you want your building to sit. For example, if your building is in the centre and close to the bottom, you have more sky space to work with!
Once you’ve decided, press down your stencil onto the paper.
Did you notice how in barrangal dyara (skin and bones), 2016 Jonathan made an outline of the Garden Palace building using shields?
We’ll be doing something similar using our fingerprints.
Your fingerprint is a unique mark. No one else has the same fingerprint as you. By using your fingerprint to create the shape of the building we are representing your individual connection to that building. This is similar to Jonathan's use of the shields to outline the Garden Palace which highlights the memory and the ongoing connection of the building and place to the Aboriginal people.
Step 4 - Fingerprint
Using either an inkpad, or a small amount of paint, press one finger into the paint to coat your fingertip with colour. You might like to choose colours that remind you of your building or the memories it holds.
Use some scrap paper first to see if you have too much paint. You’ll know that you have the right amount when you can see your fingerprint.
Starting from the edge of the building stencil, press your painted finger onto the paper to make a pattern using your fingerprint.
Change directions, and spin the page around with your clean hand to add interest to your artwork by changing the directions of your fingerprints. Jonathon explains this often looks like falling leaves that are found around buildings.
Make sure you print your finger all the way around the edge of your building stencil so you have a clear printed line. This means that when your artwork is finished, you can see the details of the building that you cut around. You can choose to make your paint darker at the bottom of the building (more finger prints) so it is more grounded and lighter (fewer fingerprints) as you work towards the sky.
Step 5 - Complete
When you’re happy with your artwork, carefully peel off your building stencil to reveal the outline of your special building!
Congratulations on your artwork.
Display it proudly for all to see!
Appreciate
Check out some of these fantastic examples from students who have completed this task.
Reflect
Reflect on how you felt when you were making this artwork.
What memories of your special building and the connection you have to it, did making your artwork make you think about.
How did these memories make you feel? Happy? Sad? Worried? Calm? Joyful?
Share the story behind your artwork with your classmates and your teacher.
You could:
describe your artwork to your class and explain why this place is important for you to remember
film yourself (or ask someone else to take a video) giving an artist’s explanation of the meaning behind your artwork (look at Jonathan videos for inspiration!)
write 1 or 2 sentences about your memories of this place to go with your artwork so others can walk down memory lane with you.
You have finished this @The Arts Unit Creative Class.
We hope you enjoyed printing down memory lane with us today!
Third-party content attributions
Human emotions copied under s113P, accessed 24 May 2020