Sandcasting

Daytime students at Jason Lee Middle School explored Kantha through sandcasting.

First, they learned about the process of sandcasting – a new technique for them. They worked together to create sandcast blocks using intricate wooden stamps from India. The wood stamps exhibit similar designs and creatures as can be seen in Kantha embroidery.

For the next part of the project, each student brought in an object with personal meaning, such as jewelry, mementos, and toys. They pressed their object into the sand, creating a mold into which molten glass was poured. The students then wrote short stories about what their object means to them.

The students’ stories reveal common themes – friendship, family, love, and loss – that can also be seen in Kantha. This gives our students insight into the human experience, whether we’re in the same town or live in different countries around the world.

Here are some of the stories behind students’ found objects:

“I brought in 2 objects. The first was a piece of a shell box. When my cat died before I moved, I made it the gravestone. When we moved I brought the shell box piece with me. The second item was a sea shell which my Grandma brought me from Hawaii.”

“I have the wings. The wings were part of a figure named Castle. He’s on a show called Supernatural and the character means a lot to me; by that he shows caring and strength for such a long time.”

“My found object is a paper flower and I chose this flower because I made it for my Mom as a Mother’s Day gift.”

Glassblowing

The blown glass art seen in Common Threads was made by high school students in Team Production at Jason Lee and After School students at Wilson High School.

Team Production students made sculptural glass artworks in the shape of paisley, a traditional decoration in Kantha embroidery. Paisley originated as an organic form, a stylized representation of a vegetable or pine cone, but it has evolved into design motif. The curved raindrop shape makes for a dynamic glass object. The students also incorporated murrini, cross-sections of cane that make colorful patterns, into their glass art. The murrini they chose echo the mandalas and flowers that can be found in Kantha.

Bits of murrini

After School students at Wilson High School have also created innovative artwork for the exhibition.

They have highlighted traditional animals from Kantha, such as the elephant, in their sculpted glass art. To add designs and patterns, they employed sandblasting, a cold-working process done after a blown glass item has cooled. Abrasive sand etches designs into glass, transforming a shiny surface to matte. Sandblasting can also remove a top layer of glass to reveal a different color underneath.

Fusion

Students in Daytime and After School classes at Jason Lee Middle School have made colorful fused glass art for Common Threads.

Fusion provides an excellent means for taking concepts from Kantha and adapting them into glass. Fused glass squares evoke the idea of quilt squares. Each are beautiful on their own, but they can also be composed into something bigger. Students borrowed Kantha motifs, such as mandalas, and rendered them in glass.

Kantha embroidery (left); Fused glass (right).

Daytime students at Jason Lee Middle School found that using thin strands of glass, called stringers, would allow them to create images that mimic the stitching seen in Kantha. Some of these squares were assembled into larger panel, framed with designs. Together, they reflect the look of a complete Kantha quilt.

Students composing their mosaic around a fused glass square.

After School students at Jason Lee used stencils to make colorful and intricate glass designs. They then took the fused square and integrated it into a mosaic. The small glass squares in the mosaic continue the colors and design started in the fused glass piece.