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Miranda Sweeney September 25, 2012 Self Portraits of Children: A Study of Youth Created Art
The Study: Self Portraits of Children A self-portrait is a representation of an artist, drawn, painted, photographed, or sculpted by the artist. Artists have been creating representations of themselves for centuries. In this study there is a focus on the self-portraits of children between the ages of 5 and 16. The images were borrowed from the Illinois State University Milner Library’s International Collection of Child Art, which houses a collection of 72 designated self-portraits from various countries and regions. Through analyzing the images found in this collection three things became apparent. First, it is evident in the images studied that the children were given specific instructions either about the title, position of the figure, and/or things to be included in the image. The instructor influenced the style of the portrait based on his/her instruction, which reflects the instructors own aesthetic. Secondly, each of the self-portraits created have specific qualities that may or may not fit into the developmental stages proposed by classic developmental models, making the more contemporary views of creative development more applicable. Last, the study of these images brings into question, “When is art?” as these images were created by children, but are held in a museum alongside classical pieces of fine art. Influenced and Individuality According to Eisner (1978), “One of education’s longstanding aims has been to enable children to think for themselves, to become intellectually independent…” (p. 7). With the understanding that children learn to make decisions through the creation process, educators should take a step back from too much instruction that would influence a child’s decision. In this collection of self-portraits, one can easily determine which artists were in the same class or led by the same instructor. For instance, there are two profile self-portrait images, created in 1960; a boy, age 12, created one image. A 13-year-old girl created the other image. Both these images were created with similar materials and in a similar style. As suggested in Wilson’s (2005) article, educators must continually ask themselves, “ How am I controlling my students?” (p. 324). How do educators avoid influencing the aesthetic preferences of students? How do they
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encourage decision-making skills necessary to develop a personal aesthetic in a course that is restricted by budget and curriculum? If students are given multiple options for media, style, technique, how does the educator encourage individuality in a room of 45 students that rely on one another for approval and advice? Wolf (1988) points out, “ No artist could survive without borrowing techniques and images that come either form the public domain or from other artists. Teaching, imitation, and influence are common, rather than rare” (p. 148). OAD: Obvious Artistic Development The self-portraits in this study fit the traditional developmental models, such as Piaget’s, while also showing obvious artistic development beyond the proposed stages of Piaget’s theory. As an example, there are two images created by boys, both 5 years old. The self-portraits both have very similar traits, such as the representation of fanned out fingers on the hands, a large exaggerated smile, and disproportioned legs and arms. However, one image pays more attention to details in the eyes and clothes. Feldman (1985) explains, “…movement from stage to stage is a gradual process that extends over several years” (p.84). In this situation, the viewer might assume that the artists of the image that includes more detail might be slightly older, therefore closer to the next developmental stage. Many of the images are representational, although stylized, and pay close attention to values and color use. However, other self-portraits in the study are less realistic and more expressive. The self-portraits in this collection show an obvious progression of creative development in age groups. Burton (2001) states, “…one of the greatest strengths of Lowenfield’s contribution is to a vision of continuous artistic development originating in infancy and projecting through adolescence” (p.36). Lowenfield’s theory is less regimented than Piaget’s model, yet both theories contribute to the understanding of the style and artistic choices of these self-portraits. When is art? A Question of Children’s Work Borrowed from Louis (2005), the question “when is art? Suggests that artistic progress is better understood as a journey along one of the many potential pathways that lead to convincing, compelling, and persuasive images, rather than as a relentless march towards the single endpoint of visual realism” (p. 347). This collection of self portraits created by children provides an opportunity for viewers to question the authenticity of these works as fine art. As part of a
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museum collection, how do these portraits differ from those created in current classrooms? In Winner’s (1993) article “Exceptional Artistic Development: The Role of Visual Thinking”, she explains, “…the arts are a form of visual thinking and that visual thinking is central to all forms of human cognition” (p.31). If this is the case, why do we classify art based on age, or developmental stage? Conscious and Questioning The collected images on the Pinterest board, Study of Children’s Art- Self Portraits (Sweeney, 2012), has given me the opportunity to discuss, analyze, as well as question my own assumptions and beliefs about the creative works of children. Like Thompson (2005) suggests, this study reminded me to “consciously question the developmental assumptions that permeate (my) thinking about children and their art” (p. 20). As an educator, I need to be conscious of my influence on my student’s choices, thoughtful in my introduction of lessons and examples of imagery, and cautious in my presentations of techniques and media. As I create projects for my students, I need to provide opportunities for them to make choices, explore topics and media, and question their influences.
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Self Portraits of Children References Burton, J. M. (2001). Lowenfeld, another look. Art Education, 54(6), 33-42. Eisner, E. (1978). What do children learn when they paint? Art Education, 31(3), 6-10 Feldman, D. H. (1985). The concept of non-universal developmental domains:
Implications
for artistic development. Visual Arts Research, 11(1), 82-89. Louis, L. L. (2005). What children have in mind: A study of early representational development in paint. Studies in Art Education, 46(4), 339-355. Sweeney, M. (2012). Study of Children’s Art- Self Portraits. Pinterest board. Retrieved from http://pinterest.com/sweeneygirl/study-of-children-s-art-self-portraits/ Thompson, C. M. (2005). Under construction: Images of the child in art teacher
education. Art
Education, 58(2), 18-23. Wilson, B. (2005). Child art after Modernism: Visual culture and new narratives. In E.W. Eisner & M. D. Day (Eds.), Handbook of research and policy in art education (pp 299-328). Reston, VA: National Art Education Association. Winner, E. (1993). Exceptional artistic development: The role of visual thinking. Journal of Aesthetic Education, 27(4), 31-44 Wolf, D. (1988). Artistic learning: What and where is it? Journal of Aesthetic Education, 22(1), 143-155.