Lesson: Playing With Patterns

• Review students’ notes from their “Graphic Organizer: Working With Pattern” skills sheets.

1. Invite students to take turns reading each section aloud.
2. Encourage students to describe what they see as they observe each artwork. Ask: How does Yayoi Kusama work with pattern? (Kusama uses analogous colors, bright and muted hues, and a series of semicircles in her painting Nets; she uses both nets and dots to add dimension and shape to her painting of a pumpkin; she uses the scale of the dots strategically in her monumental sculpture.)
3. Have students record their findings in their “Graphic Organizer: Working With Pattern” skills sheets.

• What similar techniques does Kusama use in her two paintings? (Both paintings feature a net pattern and highlights and shadows that add dimension.)
• How does Kusama create a sense of form in both the two-dimensional and three-dimensional representations of pumpkins? (Kusama plays with the scale of the polka-dot patterns, emphasizing the pumpkins’ shapes.)
• Compare these works with those on pages 4-5. What do you notice? (Answers will vary but should refer to the images and text.)

• Create an artwork featuring a vegetable. How will you portray the subject? How can you incorporate pattern into the composition?
• Create a painting or drawing that contains a net pattern. What colors will you use? How will you use the net pattern within your artwork
• Write a few sentences or a short paragraph about Kusama’s portrayal of pumpkins. Why does the pumpkin appeal to her as a subject? How does she portray them?

Have students complete the “Write About Art” box on page 7.