Ashley Jager
- Nov 4, 2022
- 3 min read

Sculpting in Cardboard!

Updated: Oct 25, 2023

Cover Artwork: "Improvised Colosseum," by 12th Grade Student

Relief sculpture, from the Italian word relievare, "to raise," is any work of art where the images are three-dimensionally raised from a flat surface. One of the most famous relief sculptures in history is the Parthenon frieze preserved in the Acropolis Museum in Athens, Greece.

New Buffalo Area Schools has its own relief sculpture of the mighty Bison displayed on the exterior of the Performing Arts Center!

The Art Exploration students were given the artistic challenge of stretching their creativity by repurposing cardboard boxes into building their own relief sculptures.

Because a sculpture can be made out of any physical material, we began by experimenting with the cardboard medium. The students learned how to fold and connect pieces of cardboard with construction techniques to build 3D layers.

They worked in teams of four to practice these skills and brainstorm their own ideas. The students thought of names to describe each new technique created for sculpting in cardboard that they presented to the class in a group critique.

I kept these idea boards up on display throughout the unit so that students could refer to them for examples as they were working.

After developing skill-building techniques, my students began drafting their unique concepts for their sculptures. Their sculptures had to include at least four layers from the background to foreground with a subject of emphasis that stood apart from the rest. The theme of their sculpture was completely the artist's choice on this unit!

I always love this part of an art project when students are able to showcase their creativity by demonstrating the skills they have developed in so many unique ways!

Students chose to show textural changes by cutting into the cardboard and others by manipulating it by tearing, folding, and fraying the paper.

Some people focused on building the construction itself with depth in high relief and others were more interested in creating contrast with added color and value.

The journey to final sculptures was a creative process through trial and error as students discovered new ways to portray their ideas and problem solve through challenges.

Above: In-progress of "Easter Island Moai Sculptures"

Above: In-progress work of "Under the Sea"

This student wanted to include an kinetic feature to their sculpture so that the viewer needs to interact with the piece by shifting the salmon from the waterfall into the hungry bear's mouth!

This was no easy task and took many failed attempts with alternative ideas to finally achieve a successful kinetic sculpture!

"The Big Catch" by 12th Grade Student

This is a nature scene with my favorite land animal – the bear. I thought it would be cute to have him catch a much-too-large fish that is just out of reach. The catch itself is a three-dimensional kinetic element which invites the viewer to interact with the art by adjusting the lever behind the piece.

"The Great Pyramids of Giza" by 10th Grade Student.

I chose this subject because I have always been fascinated by these pyramids since I was young -and still am. I am amazed how the ancient Egyptians could have created such big structures with the technology given to them. I am most proud of how I tried my best to make the pyramids stick out to a viewer.

Left to Right: "Watch Me Grow," "Colorful Chameleon," and "Cardboard Galaxy"

This student recreated their favorite artist's album cover with a functional Spotify code that could be scanned to start playing the music on their phone!

"Blond by Frank Ocean" created by 11th Grade Student

I chose this subject because I really like the album and his music means a lot to me. He is a very influential person in the music industry and the Spotify code works! I am most proud of the details. I feel like I had to spend a lot of time getting the proportions right along with the small details- like the hands and letters. If I did this again I would do it on a much larger scale and I include a list of the songs on the album to have more information in the artwork itself.