Finished collage diptych from a student (Thuy) in my period 7 class.

Work-in-progress collage diptych from a student (Edwards) in my period 7 class.

Close-up image of a student’s (Edwards) magazine collage (half of his diptych project) from my period 7 class.

The goal of my collage diptychs unit was for students to create diptychs using two different kinds of collages. They were to select a reference image that they would recreate in two ways: the first was a collage using construction paper that focused on the shapes in their reference image; the second was a collage using magazine paper that focused on the textures in their reference image. Students had complete freedom in choosing their reference image. Some decided on images from magazines, some found images online, some used images from advertisements or games, and some even drew their own. One of the students I am focusing on for this growth portrait (Edwards) used an advertisement for a superhero TV show as his reference image. The other student (Thuy) decided to draw her own reference image.

Edwards is a very artistically inclined student. In his free time, he paints shoes (and an occasional wallet or other accessory) and sells them as a commission-based business. He has shown great enthusiasm for developing his technical skills. Many times he approached me in class or after school with questions on how to improve his drawings or his commissioned products, bringing me examples of his practice work. For this collage diptych project, Edwards chose a reference image that was not very visually complicated. It did not have a lot of detail or intricacies; it was almost a cartoon-like graphic that used flat colors and a lot of black space.

I encouraged Edwards to find a different, more complex image as that image would not lend itself to very interesting collages but he was adamant about sticking with the image he already had. He did not want to challenge himself with a more complex image for this project. However, what he did challenge himself with and what I believe showed powerful learning was that Edwards chose to make his second collage (using magazine paper) 3D. The class had not reached the 3D unit yet, and assumedly did not have much 3D experience prior to this class, but Edwards wanted to turn the character in his reference image into a 3D form for his diptych. He would collage the 3D form with magazine paper and keep the background 2D.

The end product that Edwards created may not have been his best quality work, but the fact that he chose to challenge himself with combining 2D collage and 3D sculpture elevated his diptych conceptually. His decision was pivotal in relation to the overall goal of the unit because Edwards was able to think outside the box of my assignment and ask for an adjustment to fit his needs as a learner. He was still able to produce a diptych that recreated a reference image using two different collage methods in which he was also able to incorporate a 3D element.

Thuy is a very academically motivated, high-achieving student. She works hard to keep her grade in the A range and puts genuine effort into her projects. I do not know if she has had prior experience with art, but she seems to have a natural artistic ability. For this diptych project, she decided to draw her own reference image instead of using a pre-made image for her collages. Her decision to draw her own image was a challenging choice that showed she is dedicated to improving her skills. Her decision also demonstrated powerful learning because she has become confident in her drawing skills and was willing to take a risk, as most students chose the easier route of copying a pre-made image.

Another aspect of Thuy’s final diptych that she took initiative with was her choice to adjust the materials for her construction paper collage. One of the goals for that first collage was for students to mainly focus on identifying the shapes in their reference image and recreate those shapes using construction paper. Construction paper is flat color which lent itself to aiding students in simplifying their reference image as they could not match the exact colors and were forced to focus more on the shapes they saw instead of the colors. Thuy asked if she could incorporate tissue paper with the construction paper to add a dimension of texture to her collage. Tissue paper is not a material that is displayed in the classroom and I had not included tissue paper in any previous projects, so Thuy did not know that tissue paper was available to use. Still, she was able to think outside the box of my assignment and asked to incorporate other materials into her diptych. Her risk and choice demonstrated that she felt comfortable with me to ask for an adjustment to her project.