Lesson video

Hello, everyone.

How are you today? I hope you're feeling really good.

My name is Ms. (indistinct) and I'll be your art teacher for this lesson.

I'm feeling very happy about that because I love teaching art and because today we're looking at natural forms. And I love nature, so really, really excited for us to get into this.

Our lesson is called Natural Forms in 3D Design, and it comes from the unit of work, Foundation Workshops.

So if you're ready, if you have some interest in nature that you would like to share and some curiosity about this lesson, we'll begin.

The outcome for today's lesson is I can review the range of ways artists have been inspired by natural forms in 3D design.

We have some keywords in our lesson.

Let's go through them.

Biomimicry, natural forms and asymmetry.

So what do these words mean? Biomimicry is design inspired by the structures, patterns and systems found in nature.

Natural forms. These are shapes, patterns, and structures found in a natural world.

For example, shells, plants and bones.

Asymmetry, a lack of symmetry.

When two sides of something are not identical but may still balance visually.

These are our keywords.

Biomimicry, natural forms and asymmetry.

Let's look out and listen out for them.

They'll be coming up in our lesson today.

Today's lesson is called Natural Forms in 3D Design, and it has three learning cycles.

Artist's spotlight: natural forms, visual deconstruction: natural forms, and personal connection in art: natural forms. Let's begin with an artist spotlight on natural forms. So why do you think natural forms can be a popular subject in art? Pause the video and chat with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

Natural forms are often seen as beautiful, and this provides artists with endless inspiration.

Artists, designers and craftspeople take different approaches to the theme of natural forms and use a variety of techniques in their work.

Artists may approach the theme of natural forms by exploring symbolism and meaning, exploring fluid, organic shapes that contrast with rigid geometry, exploring asymmetry, using biomimicry to design functional, efficient and sustainable objects.

Raising awareness of environmental issues.

Artwork featuring natural forms has appeared across cultures and history.

However, the natural forms chosen often vary and hold different meanings depending on the culture.

Can you think of any natural forms that might have specific meanings? Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

In different cultures, natural forms are associated with specific meanings.

An apple in Christianity is a symbol of temptation, knowledge and sin.

The Koru, a spiral symbol in Maori culture, signifies new life, growth and peace.

In Chinese culture, a lion or shishi, is a symbol of strength, bravery, good luck and protection.

And in Mexico, marigolds are believed to guide the spirits of the deceased back to the living world.

The same natural form can hold nuanced alternative meanings for a range of cultures.

Lotus flower, in ancient Egypt, rebirth and the sun.

The flower closes at night and reopens with daylight.

Hinduism and Buddhism in India, purity, enlightenment, spiritual awakening.

And in China, the lotus flower symbolises nobility, beauty and knowledge.

And again, the same natural form can hold meanings for a range of cultures.

So for example, river or water is a powerful symbol in Lakota art, reflecting its essential role in Lakota culture and spirituality.

In Gurindji art, water represents life, connection to the land and cultural heritage.

And in Japanese Shintoism water is a symbol of purification and spiritual cleansing.

Let's have a check for understanding true or false.

Natural forms carry the same significance and meanings across all cultures and time periods.

Pause the video and decide if this is true or false.

Well done if you selected false.

And now I'd like you to say a little more about your answer.

Pause here while you do this.

Perhaps you said something like this.

Natural forms have appeared in art across time and cultures, often chosen for their varying and specific significant in symbolism within that culture.

Artists exploring the symbolism of natural forms include, Kate Malone's ceramics draw on natural forms, her millennium jug of symbols, 1999, uses fruit to symbolise fertility and abundance.

In Nane Oda Lavutaris, Emelia Rigova uses plants to express the fragility and resilience of Romani identity.

Jenni-Juulia Wallinheimo-Heimonen's film, Alternative Ways of Being Human, 2022, uses natural 3D props to convey meaning.

The diversity of colour, texture, and shape found in nature can lead to visually striking works.

That's really quite a visually striking being that we can see on the screen there.

Artists, designers and craftspeople can create works which replicate fluid organic shapes, which contrast with rigid geometric forms. What natural form has inspired this work? Pause the video and share with someone.

What do you think? Yes, Laura, I think this is inspired by butterfly wings.

The shape and pattern are accurate.

The designer has abstracted the patterns into the skirt.

The shape of the sleeve links to wing shapes too.

Artists can be inspired by a single specific element like the form, colour, or texture found in nature.

Natural forms reflect organic lines and movement which artists and designers often use in their work.

Some artists find that asymmetrical designs lend themselves to capturing the unpredictability of nature.

However, artists are also drawn to symmetry found in nature.

Suhasini Kejriwal examined symmetrical forms and asymmetrical surface designs in her sculptural works for Garden of Unearthly Delights, 2023.

Artists inspired by specific elements of natural forms include, Yinka Ilori's Beacon of Dreams is a natural space inspired by the cavity inside shells to create a space for quiet reflection.

Fernando and Umberto Campana employ organic forms and textures in their furniture design, such as the Bolo tas Sofa, which is inspired by acorns and the Brazilian landscape.

Shio Kusaka is a ceramicist who creates hand-built vessels with earthy glazes and tactile surfaces that evoke stones, tree bark, wood and water.

Biomimicry is design inspired by the structures, patterns and systems found in nature.

Designers use biomimicry to design functional, efficient and sustainable objects.

Can you think of any examples of biomimicry and design? Pause here and share with someone.

I have a sofa that is kind of curved and the inspiration for the design was taken from fruit.

It's extremely comfortable and very nice to look at.

How has this design taken inspiration from the original natural form? Pause here and share with someone.

Perhaps you said something like this.

Prosthetic blades were inspired by the hind legs of a cheetah.

Designers using biomimicry to design functional, efficient, and sustainable objects include, Sir Nicholas Grimshaw designed the Eden Project, so that the lightweight structure mimics the efficiency and form of bubbles and the geometry of pollen grains.

It uses minimal materials to enclose a large space, creating a warmer climate inside the domes.

Fariborz Sahba designed Baha'i House of Worship in Delhi to be shaped like a blooming lotus, symbolising purity and peace in faith.

Its petal design also allows natural light and ventilation.

Artists and designers can use natural forms to comment on important issues in society, such as climate change.

Designers can often focus on sustainability in their work.

Artists can use natural forms to address important issues in the world.

Cristina Iglesias creates immersive installations, using water and plant life to evoke ecological systems and highlight vanishing landscapes.

In Spazio di Luce, 2012, Giuseppe Penone presents a hollowed gold-lined tree trunk, evoking a felled tree shaped by human use.

Jason deCaires Taylor's underwater works like Museo Subacuatico de Arte raise awareness of ocean degradation through sculptures that support marine life.

And now it's time For your first task.

I'd like you to select two or three artists or specific artworks and compare them.

Consider these questions.

In what ways are the artworks visually similar or different? Subject, colour, tone, shape, style, composition, and materials.

What themes, symbols, or ideas do the artworks explore? Are there any connections between them? Pause here while you have a go at this task.

It's good to be back with you.

You may have said something like this.

Giuseppe Penone calves and changes natural forms in his sculptural work.

Emilia Rigova uses plants and composes them in a space that she has created.

Both use the natural forms as a material, but in different ways.

They also explore different ideas.

Rigova's work is about cultural identity and resilience, referencing her Romani background, but Penone wants to talk about human impact on nature and deforestation.

Or you may have compared them in this way.

They both use natural materials to create the work.

Giuseppe Penone, gold is added to the work.

Makes us think about deforestation and uses traditional carving methods.

Emilia Rigova.

Plants create a tapestry of texture, makes us think about resilience and identity.

Combines found materials with plants.

And now we're onto our next learning cycle, visual deconstruction, natural forms. What is the first thing you notice about this artwork? Pause the video and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

Artists use various techniques to communicate in their work.

The elements of art, line, tone, colour, pattern, shape, form, texture, composition, space and perspective, materials and techniques, imagery and subject.

We can deconstruct these techniques to understand the work more deeply.

Check for understanding.

Which one of the following is not a common way artists communicate in their work.

A, choosing a subject or image that tells the story.

B, selecting materials or techniques that support their message.

C, recording their personal life in a diary.

Or D, using texture, colour, and shape to create a mood.

Pause while you decide.

Well done if you selected answer C, recording their personal life in a diary.

So how are the elements of art used in this work? Let's investigate.

Lines in different thickness flow like water or weathered rock formations.

Limited colour palette, but warm yellow hues catch the eye.

The shapes and forms used are all natural and flowing.

Patterns are found in repeated flowing lines.

Texture could be touched as there is evidence of sgraffito.

High contrast tone defines the work due to the use of glazes.

Natural forms often use flowing, asymmetrical elements.

These contrast with the rigid lines of geometric forms. This asymmetrical image has been edited to explore symmetry.

So there is asymmetrical.

And here we have one line of symmetry and two lines of symmetry.

What is the effect of symmetry in this artwork? Pause the video and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

Why might artists manipulate asymmetry and symmetry in their artwork of natural forms? Here's Sofia.

I could use asymmetry to move the viewer's eye across the composition.

Jacob.

Symmetry can be used as a decorative pattern on clothes, wallpapers and art.

And asymmetry can make the artwork feel more natural as a lot of natural forms are not perfectly symmetrical.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Which is the most likely reason artists use asymmetry in their art inspired by natural forms? Is it A, to confuse the viewer and hide the subject, B, to follow strict mathematical rules in their composition, C, to make the artwork look perfect and mechanical, or D, to reflect the irregular organic forms found in nature? Pause the video while you decide.

Well done if you selected answer D.

And now it's time for your next task.

I would like you to select one artwork and describe it by answering, what can you see in this artwork? Think about the elements of art, line, tone, colour, pattern, shape, form, texture, composition, space and perspective, materials and techniques, imagery and subject.

How has the artist used these techniques to communicate with the audience? You could record your response as an idea shower around an image of the artwork, write a paragraph or make an audio or video recording.

So pause here while you have a go at this task.

Great to be back with you.

How did you get on? You may have said something like this.

Natural forms have been dried and gathered around a light fixture, almost like an explosion from the centre.

The leaves and the shadows create texture and pattern.

The composition is balanced with similar sized bunches of leaves on both sides and is a warm natural colour palette.

Glowing, warm light creates tone and interest.

It may have reflected in this way.

Shapes and forms are organic and natural.

They've used natural clay and glazes.

Colours are bright blue, greens or natural tan and browns.

The glazes dripping down create an asymmetric pattern, floral pattern on the shapes from a sand dollar, tone is created from changes in colours and shadows created by the forms. And now we're onto our final learning cycle, personal connection in art, natural forms. How can looking at an artist's work help us develop our own work? Pause the video and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

Here's Andeep.

Art with similar themes can develop my ideas more than techniques or imagery.

Sam, I'll look at techniques and processes and try to apply this to my theme.

Work that has similar imagery or natural forms will be helpful even if the theme is different.

Let's have a check for understanding.

When looking at an artwork for inspiration, which of the following is a useful way to respond to it? A, ignore the meaning and just choose random parts to copy, B, only pay attention to the colours and nothing else, C, take ideas from the theme, technique, imagery or a combination, or D, try to copy the whole work exactly as it looks.

Pause the video while you decide.

Well done if you selected answer C.

Indeed, it's helpful to take ideas from a theme, technique, imagery, or a combination.

There are a number of things which can cause us to have a personal connection with an artwork such as the techniques used or themes explored.

We can identify and interpret how natural forms create deeper meanings in an artwork, to examine our personal connection to the themes of the work.

We can often find links to our own themes through looking carefully at the works.

What meanings do you interpret from the natural forms represented in this work? Pause the video and share with someone.

Here's Lucas.

Linking to my macro and micro theme, the dark lines and patterns remind me of looking through a microscope.

Laura, my theme is faith.

I could explore trees and plants linked to different religions and ideas of paradise.

And Aisha.

I wanted to look at floral natural forms from my grandparents' garden as part of my theme of memory.

Can you think of other thematic interpretations? Pause the video while you do this.

Thanks for sharing about that.

And now it's time for our final learning cycle.

I would like you to select one artwork and use the questions below to consider your personal connection.

What theme, symbols or ideas does this art explore? Are there any symbols, imagery, or connections between them that help create a narrative or show meaning? Which techniques, processes, or creative decisions in this artwork inspire you? How might you use them in your own work? You could record your response as an idea shower around an image of the artwork, write a paragraph or make an audio or video recording.

Pause here while you have a go at this task.

It's good to be back with you.

How did you get on with that task? You may have said something like this.

Theme, growth and decay.

This links clearly with my theme of growth and decay, as the dried leaves link to the preservation of natural forms. I like how developing this into a light fixture further enhances idea of growth as the light brings a sense of life to the materials.

I want to explore the use of natural forms with light in my own fixture.

I'll press leaves between fabric layers to create cylindrical lampshades, casting shadows of the forms. Here's another example.

Theme, memory and travel.

For me, this collection reminds me of the seaside and summer holidays.

The plate looks like a sand dollar and the vessels use ocean colours.

I'm also drawn to the use of glazes to create natural patterns and tones in the work.

I'll test the use of glazes on my work.

I will take inspiration from lakes.

I want to look at lily pads and how the shapes and forms in the leaves could be used to create my own ceramics.

What lovely ideas.

In our lesson, natural forms in 3D design, we've covered the following.

Natural forms offer organic shapes and lines that can contrast with rigid geometry.

Artists use biomimicry to design functional, efficient and sustainable objects inspired by nature.

Nature inspired design can raise awareness of climate change, deforestation and biodiversity loss.

Sculpture based on natural forms can inspire action by highlighting environmental issues.

Well done, everyone, for joining in with this lesson.

It was great to explore natural forms with you and see how these can inspire design works.

It was wonderful you reflected on all of this and enjoy looking out for nature inspired design as you move through your days.

I really enjoyed this lesson and I look forward to seeing you at another art lesson soon.

Until then, stay creative.