Art theme: identity

Artists think carefully about how to express identity when constructing an image of a person, whether creating images of themselves or someone else. It's important to consider how to convey someone's personality and qualities, interests and beliefs in an artwork. How can an artist show the things that are important to that person? How can they help viewers gain a sense of their experiences, culture and background? 

Artists give viewers an insight into a person's unique identity in all manner of ways. For instance, in figurative art, artists may make use of features such as clothing, hairstyle and accessories, as well as facial expressions, gestures and pose. The objects and background they portray their subject with can also help to cast light on a person's identity.

Contextual background for teachers

Portrait of Melissa Thompson (2020)
Kehinde Wiley (b. 1977)

Medium: oil on linen
Dimensions: H 265.5 x W 201.8 cm

Nigerian-American artist Kehinde Wiley has become well-known for portraits of people of colour with nods to the traditions of European and American portraiture. In this way, he challenges the exclusion of Black subjects within the history of art. Compare Portrait of Melissa Thompson with a royal or aristocratic portrait such as George III by Joshua Reynolds or even this painting of Elizabeth II. Can you spot elements in these paintings which Wiley has borrowed? Presented in a similar style, Melissa Thompson presents just as powerful an image as the historical portraits Wiley references.

Melissa sits against a patterned backdrop, typical of Wiley’s work. Here, he looks again to artists of the past, taking inspiration from the Wild Tulip design created by Victorian craftsman William Morris. What is the effect of placing Melissa, dressed in a hoodie and ripped jeans, against this traditional wallpaper design?

This artwork is part of Wiley’s series The Yellow Wallpaper: a group of paintings depicting Black women (all recruited through a street-casting process on the streets of London) in powerful poses borrowed from historical portraiture and set against richly patterned backgrounds.

Look, describe and discuss

Open a full-screen version of the zoomable image in a new window.

Ask your students to describe the artwork, encouraging them to simply say what they can see.

You can start by showing the whole image, and then use the zoom feature to explore details of the painting. Or you might like to start by using the zoom feature to show a detail from the image, and then zoom out to see more.

Encourage your students to look carefully – this is their superpower! It's best to not give too much background information about the artwork at this stage, so students can develop their own ideas and opinions.

An audio description of the painting is available. It is accompanied by a full written transcript which can also be used to describe the painting.

Nudge questions

Now when looking at the painting, ask more specific ('nudge') questions:

  • What are your first impressions of the person in this painting?
  • What do you notice about her clothes?
  • Where do you think she is sitting for this painting?
  • Do you notice anything unusual about the yellow wallpaper in the background?

Questions from The Superpower of Looking Kit

Now we can start to explore the 'elements' of the painting.

For this artwork, you will focus on:

Ask your students to evidence their points:

  • where exactly are they looking when they make a statement?
  • can everybody see what they see?
  • slow down, take time to really look closely

You can introduce knowledge from the contextual background for teachers while asking these bespoke questions with helpful responses which can be found in the teachers' notes.

Everyone learning

You can find out more about The Superpower of Looking® SEND/ASD/ALN/ASN approach on the Superpower homepage.

Now it's time to explore the artwork in different ways. This list of sensory activities encourages students to apply their learning and can suit a variety of learning needs.

Make

We suggest creative activities for all learners, including a tactile option to support students with vision impairment: these activities explore the tactile qualities of materials or involve gestural mark-making to further explore the artwork.

  • Invite students to draw their own portrait. How will they present themselves through the clothes they choose and the pose they strike? They may like to present their portraits against a background of their own wallpaper designs, created with the William Morris Gallery’s Playing with Pattern resource
  • Tactile option: Create a repeat-pattern wallpaper design, using a wax rubbing technique. First, create a textured ‘block’: this could simply be a piece of textured card (patterned textured craft card is widely available) or you could create a collage of card shapes glued onto a card base. Then, lay a large sheet of thin paper over the ‘block’ and use the sides of wax crayons to rub over, revealing the pattern. Move the block along and make a second rubbing. Keep going until your wallpaper is complete! 

Experience

  • Listen to the audio description of the painting.

Art UK Learn · Portrait of Melissa Thompson by Kehinde Wiley, Victoria and Albert Museum, London

 

  • Melissa wears everyday fabrics which contrast with the formal upholstered chair and the patterned wallpaper. Collect denim jeans, a hoodie, a satin-effect jacket, and thick furnishing fabric, such as a curtain. Can your fingers feel a difference in the weaves? Which fabric do students prefer? 


Communicate

  • Explore sitting in different ways on your chair. In pairs, students could photograph the different poses. Which pose feels relaxed, proud or nervous? How do you communicate mood just using your pose? 
  • Learn the Makaton sign for ‘yellow’. 

Final stage: review

Ask your students to:

  • share their sketchbooks in groups and discuss the 'elements' they have identified
  • choose an element/aspect they find most interesting about the artwork and record it in their sketchbooks
  • choose their own name/s for the title of the artwork
  • think of a question they would like to ask the artist

 

Congratulations!

You have now completed this lesson resource on The Superpower of Looking.

There are more resources in this theme to try – have a look at the 'next lessons' section below.


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