Self-portraits in the Style of Robyn Kahukiwa

This lesson is a self-portrait based the artwork on Robyn Kahukiwa’s ‘My Ancestors Are Always with Me’. Robyn Kahukiwa is a prominent female Māori painter whose works explore her identity as a Māori wahine (Māori woman). This lesson was taught at the end of the year to the senior students but would be a great lesson for the beginning of the year. It could be completed over a few lessons even though we finished it in one day.

Before the students started their self-portraits they worked on some observational drawings of seed pods. We talked about reasons why we start lessons with observational drawing. The students came up with ideas such as ‘to learn to shade better,’ ‘to know how to draw something by looking at the outlines,’ ‘because it’s relaxing and satisfying,’ and ‘to have some peace in our lives.’ I love hearing what kids think about the learning that they do in the art room.

Next, we looked at Robyn Kahukiwa’s ‘My Ancestors Are Always with Me’ and discussed themes such as identity, genealogy, whakapapa and ancestry. I asked the students to think of important figures in their own life to represent in their artwork - whether it be people they have met or ancestors from long ago.

As I mentioned earlier, we only had one day to finish this artwork which meant that the students had to make decisions based on what they knew about their whānau at the time. If time allowed, it would be great for the students to have conversations with their families and learn a bit more about their family histories to include in the artwork.

The students did small plans of their artworks and then transferred to large paper. The idea was to keep their drawings large and reasonably simple. I often limit the colour palette for students but for this lesson I wanted them to choose colours that they felt connected with. They coloured their figures and backgrounds loosely but evenly with pastels.

From here the students used dyes to paint their figures. Once again it was up to them to choose the colours. I encouraged the students to trial the pastels and dyes on a separate piece of paper to help with colour choices.

Once the dye work was dry the students used white paint to draw a self portrait over the top of their ancestors. We used the smallest brushes we could find to paint fine lines. The white paint soaked into the dye more than expected so we needed to do multiple layers of the white paint.

Another unexpected outcome was that the white paint started to take on the colours of the dyes from underneath. We decided that this was a lovely effect because it illustrated how our ancestors are part of our existence.

I love how different all of the artworks are. The students were really receptive to the ideas and techniques being taught in this lesson, particularly the connection with their whānau. The expressive nature of the lesson meant that all students were able to create something beautiful and meaningful to them.

I am very proud of these artists and the gorgeous works that they completed. I hope that the students enjoyed sharing them with their whānau at home.