The challenge for this week’s elementary art class was to create a portrait in the style of Israeli artist Hanoch Piven. New School Montessori teacher Robin Hartmann gave students ideas of household items they could use in her video instruction to her students.
Piven invites viewers to notice what items he uses when designing his portraits. Those items not only create the correct shape, but they also speak to something about the life or character of that person. For instance, in this video about Piven, you will see examples of Barack Obama with Statues of Liberty icons as eyebrows, where Kim Jong-un’s eyebrows are made from slender missiles and his mouth is made using a padlock. Notice Steve Job’s light bulb nose and iphone body.
Piven encourages others to create portraits using his method. Try making a self portrait of items that represent you, and let it open you up to seeing yourself differently. One of Robin’s students shared her image with hair as flowers and a sunny flowery smile. And I know just who it is, do you?
Here is a small selection of images from Hanoch Piven’s website. Click here to see even more of his remarkable likenesses of famous people throughout the ages.
