LIHUE — Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School student Charlene Tam’s “Two Sides of Life” took on a third dimension Saturday as the student appeared with her family to view her self portrait at the Kauai Society of Artists gallery at the
LIHUE — Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School student Charlene Tam’s “Two Sides of Life” took on a third dimension Saturday as the student appeared with her family to view her self portrait at the Kauai Society of Artists gallery at the Kukui Grove Center.
“The sad thing is that it is up only for the weekend,” said CKMS art teacher Ellen Wagner. “The KSA president stopped by and after seeing it, said we definitely need more time for viewing. That will probably be the next time.”
The display encompassed more than 300 works by sixth- through eighth-graders under the direction of Wagner, ceramics instructor Kristi Gibbs, and Shaun Redd, whose students’ art featured vanishing point and magazine collages.
“For Tam’s piece, we used warm and cool colors to see the variations students could come up with,” Wagner said. “We also talked about what the colors symbolize.”
The students’ artwork encompassed paints, gourmet papier-mache and ceramics.
“Gourmet papier-mache is more than what people are familiar with,” Wagner said. “The students use tricks of the trade from artists, including attention to details like eyeballs and eyelids, and the addition of teeth. ‘Godzilla’ by Taylor Travaso has been guarding my classroom for a month before coming here.”
On the ceramics scene, students created individual pieces on ceramic tiles which, when combined, took up a corner as “The Coral Reef” while others created People Pots, planting containers with plants that reflected the personality of its creator.
“This has been a very short run,” Wagner said. “We had a reception Friday night. The show runs through Sunday afternoon, and it’s done.”
