Tessellated Sculptures

At some stage throughout their school experience students encounter the wonderful world of tessellations. These are mathematically constructed interlocking shapes that can create a myriad of interesting patterns. In Visual Art the introduction to tessellation designs usually comes through the works of famed Dutch artist M.C.Escher who was the master of these form of works. This was certainly the case with my grade 10/11 Sculpture class who were investigating tessellations as the inspiration for abstract sculptural forms.

The process of design began with two-dimensional paper cut outs that allowed students to experiment with the possibility of positive and negative shape. At times students focused on a single shape, while others chose two shapes that would form the basis for their design. Once the design ‘units’ were decided upon, the student then enlarged the scale and began to ‘extrude’ each shape individually into a three dimensional form taking inspiration from the works of the American artist Robert Indiana. The final construction was done with a combination of cardboard and tissue paper.

Each student constructed 8 units with which they could experiment further to achieve the final composition. A colour scheme was considered (one colour for front and back and another for the sides) which would enable the sculpture to be viewed alternatively from both front and back. Once these were painted, the final construction was assembled using hot glue.

The final compositions were all very considered with the end results being not only colourful, but also reflecting a certain sense of order, which is the hallmark of tessellation design.