Lessons:
P-10 Sheila Hicks
Cho Cho San
Overview
- Discuss Cho Cho San by Sheila Hicks.
- Learn about texture and overlap.
- Create a paper weave.
Reflection
- Who lives in the house that you created?
- What colors and objects did you add to describe mood of the house?
- What is the title of your artwork?
Cho Cho San by Sheila Hicks, 2006, Synthetic fiber, color transfer paper, 10 x 7.25 inches (25.4 x 18.4 cm), Artwork © Sheila Hicks, courtesy of Sikkema Malloy Jenkins, New York
Discussion Presentation
Discussion Questions
Does this look like a blanket? Would it be warm?
Many blankets are created on a loom, a yarn weaving machine. This art was woven by hand with loose weaves and gaps. It is unlike a tightly woven blanket that is made to keep us warm..
Imagine touching it, what textures would you feel?
The weaving and stitching creates a textured surface. To add visual interest, the artist included decorative stitches, fabric wrinkles, and thick yarns that contrast with the flatter areas.
Why doesn’t the paper fall to the ground?
Weaving is two pieces of yarn going “over-under” each other. The big fabric shape is part of the weaving, but in places no over-under weaving occurs. Breaking the rhythm of over-under can be interesting.
Biography
- Sheila Hicks (SHEE-lah HICKS) is an artist from Nebraska, USA.
- She creates art with colorful yarn and fabric.
- She treats thread like paint, mixing colors and textures to create art you can visually feel.
- She creates art with colorful yarn and fabric.
Project
Materials
- 9×12 mounting paper
- 6×9 white paper
- pipe cleaners
- 5×6 fadeless paper
- markers
- tape
- glue (optional)
Warm Up & Brainstorm
- No warmup required.
Project Directions
Paper Weaving
1. Bend vertical pipe cleaners.
Bend about 1.5 ins. of four pipe cleaner tops.
2. Create pipe cleaner loom.
Lay 6×9 white paper (portrait) on top of the pipe cleaners and bend pipe cleaners over the edge and tape.
3. Weave first paper strip.
Select five paper strips. Thread a strip under the first pipe cleaner, over the second pipe cleaner, under the third pipe cleaner, and over the fourth pipe cleaner. Start anywhere on the loom (top, bottom, middle.)
4. Alternate weaving strips.
If a strip starts with the under-over weave, the next strip starts with over-under weaving.
5. Draw patterns or things on the weaving.
NOTE: be careful of the ends of the strips, the paper will likely rip if still “wet” from the glue.
6. Give the artwork a title.
Pre-Lesson Preparation
- No prep required.
Day of Lesson Setup
- Time saver: pre-make pipe cleaner looms (Steps 1-3).
- Demo weaving paper strips through the pipe cleaners. alternate the weave: over-under-over-under under-over-under-over
- Accidentally missing a weave might be visually interesting.
- Secure weaving by gluing the ends of the strips.
- Draw and add patterns and images, to extend the project.
- Time saver: Have kids rip paper strips and put in a shared “pool of color.” They pull from the pool to weave.