Paper Sculpture

This is a representational sculpture of a fountain that I made using a piece of 8x24 inch paper and glue. The assignment for this project was to first think of a single word that could be used to describe the first semester of the school year. Then I was assigned to create a sculpture to represent the word. The word I chose was "serene" and I chose to make a fountain as a representational symbol for serenity.

To create this piece I first cut out a small circle, cut along its radius, and overlapped the sides to make a shallow cone. I then glued a ring around the top to make a bowl. I repeated this process for the larger bowls of the fountain and then connected them with cylindrical shapes using hot glue. At this point I used scissors with eight blades instead of two to quickly cut what would be the water. I glued the strips around the bowls and finally added the spurt of water coming from the top. I folded the strips down to create the illusion of the water falling. Shape was an important element of design in creating this piece. Because I was using "two dimensional" paper, I had to carefully predict how my 2D cutouts would look when folded into 3D shapes. The repetition of the bowls of the fountain itself give a sense of pattern and unity. For the water, texture was an important element to consider because I wanted to create movement with a still piece, which I think I accomplished. This project evolved in that I started out using masking tape to hold pieces of paper together but changed to hot glue because it's more subtle.

After deciding on my word, I chose to create a fountain because I thought it would convey a peaceful feeling. But interestingly, when I asked peers for feedback I received mixed reviews. While some agreed with my initial thought and gave words like "peaceful" and "relaxed," others thought it gave a more energetic feeling and used words such as "exciting" and "spontaneous." After getting feedback, I can now see how the water, which appears to fly in the air somewhat, could be interpreted in almost the opposite way that I intended, which is interesting. This piece has meaning and relates to my life because it represents a feeling that I have about the first semester of school this year. I think this piece could be stronger if the fountain was more exact and detailed because it is a representational sculpture. The most challenging part of the project was using paper sparingly and conservatively because I had a limited amount. I am most proud of the way I made the small strips of paper look like water overflowing from the fountain. This piece shows my strength as an artist in my ability to express emotion through my work. It shows weakness in flawed details.