STAR-POST (Art) January 2020 FINAL_STAR Post Art Jan 2020 | Page 70

Why did I Sign up for CAPS! 2019 –
The Stories in the Sculpt
Influenced by the craze of the toy-making
industry in pop culture, I was keen to
try toy sculpting for myself. Consumer
demand has made designer toys a
booming business -- fan conventions like
Comic-Con International and specialty
toy shops draw big crowds. Designer
toys, whether oversized or pocket-sized,
are typically made from materials like
resin, vinyl or wood. Some are original
designs by urban artists, but most have
pop-culture roots. The entertainment
industry has been quick to license
characters for designer toys to promote
movies, TV series and video games.
CAPS! 2019:
The Stories in the Sculpt
with Sam Lo
Joyce Chia Keh Ling
Subject Head (Aesthetics)
West Spring Secondary School
Super Sculpey Super Play – Igniting the Joy of Learning in Art
Teachers
A
group of art teachers came together for this CAPS!
workshop to get creative with polymer clay and epoxy
putty. Together with Singaporean artist, Sam Lo and sculptor
Daniel Yu, we went through a journey of exploring the creative
processes to create our very own sculpted ‘Art Toys’.
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Teacher-artists engrossed
in creating their art toys.
We were given a theme
-- Our ‘alter ego’, and we
each created a character
depicting our persona and
personality.
It was also timely for me to learn
toy-sculpting as I wanted to explore
sculpting techniques to further develop
my art practice, and to prepare for my
art lessons on character design. As
art teachers, I believe that we are also
learners, and being involved in hands-
on art-making enables us to enrich the
learning we bring to our students. Having
gone through the processes, we are
better able to connect with our students
in terms of the subject matter, help them
be aware of their artistic strengths and
weakness and appreciate the artistic
process as a journey filled with ambiguity,
failures and successes.
Exploring a new fun medium
Super Sculpey and Epoxy Putty are new
mediums to me.
Initially, I found them challenging to work
with, but with practice I became more
familiar handling them. Super Sculpey has
a medium density that could be softened
a little by kneading the clay. It feels like
carving a wax surface whilst working with
tools as the clay holds what you add or
subtract from the form. Impressions do
not “pinch” or “drag” the clay; sharp
edges are easy to create and overall, the
clay feels very malleable.
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