Robert L., Oreo Tondo.

Sunnylee Mowery

Anyone studying contemporary art will notice that many modern visual artists use adaptation in their work. Adaptation can be a difficult concept for young artists to grasp. It has become so ubiquitous that I knew I needed to find a way for students to understand it so they could apply it in their own work. For my students, I defined adaptation as “taking an idea that already exists and putting your own spin on it.”

Introducing a Graffiti Artist
Enter the work of artist KAWS. When I first encountered this artist’s unique style, with characters marked with Xs for eyes, I wasn’t immediately certain it had a place in a K–8 art room. But the more I explored KAWS’s work, the more I began to understand the methodology behind his shockingly bold style, which has become a cultural phenomenon.

On the first day of the lesson with my seventhand eighth-grade artists, I provided a wealth of information about KAWS as well as numerous examples of his work. We talked about how KAWS got his start as a graffiti artist in the mid-1990s by painting over popular advertisements he saw while growing up in Jersey City. After introducing the concept of adaptation, I had students compare and contrast KAWS’s “Bendy,” “Chum,” and “The Kimpson” characters with the original characters from which they were borrowed.

The Form of the Tondo
Following this intro, we focused on the large, round abstract paintings that KAWS cleverly calls “tondos,” a reference to the circular, often biblical, mural designs popularized in fifteenth century Italy. We looked at ten different examples of tondo paintings by KAWS and noted his use of bright colors and bold, black cartoon lines. By looking closely, we were able to recognize bits and pieces of popular cartoon characters such as SpongeBob SquarePants and Mickey Mouse. Most importantly, we observed how KAWS zoomed so far in on the images that his designs can stand on their own as simplified abstract compositions.

Choosing a Subject
Now it was time for us to create our own abstract, circular compositions. Students first chose a subject for their composition by brainstorming a list of popular things they like to consume. To guide them, I said, “This could be something you eat, something you enjoy reading, or something you enjoy playing; a character from a show, game, or book that you just can’t get enough of.”

It was fun to see how many students had success with finding interesting minicompositions within a larger image.

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