Cloisonné Graffiti Remix

For the enameling assignment in my high-school metal class, students combined the ancient technique of cloisonné enamel with the design styles of current graffiti. Our school is located in Los Angeles, which, along with New York City and Philadelphia, is one of the key places where graffiti first developed in the 1970s. From Venice Beach to retaining walls along the freeways, my students are continually seeing examples of graffiti.

What Is Cloisonné?
Cloisonné is an enameling technique (or any product of that technique) that involves soldering to a metal surface delicate metal strips bent to the outline of a design and filling the resulting cellular spaces, called cloisons (French: “partitions” or “compartments”), with vitreous enamel paste (see Work Cited). This technique likely originated in the Near East and dates back to the 13th century BCE.

Introducing Graffiti
After learning about cloisonné, students watched a DVD, Graffiti Verite, Reading the Writing on the Wall, that showed the development of graffiti as a form of personal expression for urban young people on both coasts and the range of styles in lettering that developed. The images from the DVD provided us with an impressive range of examples that we used to analyze line, pattern, layering, shape, and color.

Design Procedures
To start the design process, I asked students to select two or three letters and complete a series of sketches on 2 x 2" (5 x 5 cm) squares of graph paper that explored altering the shapes of the letters. We discussed the use of negative space and how those shapes needed to work with the entire small design.

After students sketched several variations, they decided on a design for the letters and began the exacting process of bending and cutting the cloisonné wires to match the lines on the drawing. For overlapping shapes, the wires cannot go over each other but need to meet up—a delicate process.

When students finished bending and cutting the cloisonné wires, they placed them on a 2 x 2" piece of metal. The metal can be copper or fine silver. Some students choose to alter the shape of the square, adding variety to the piece.

The Enameling Process
After years of enameling with students, I have learned some helpful tricks and recommend these steps:

Do the counter enamel on the back first and then fuse a coat of clear enamel on the front. Once both sides are enameled, the shaped cloisonné wires can be placed on the front and fired on. This method allows for wires to be placed in stages and fired, which gives the artist more control.
A tiny bit of Blu-Stic, an enameling glue from Thompson Enamel, helps keep the wires in place as they are loaded in the kiln.

Once all the wires were fired in place, students proceeded to wet-pack in the enamel colors in several stages, completing only a few “cells” in each firing to keep the enamel exact.

To develop the surface of the piece as well as learn different enameling techniques, students were required to add an additional element to their enamel such as foil, silver spheres, twisted cloisonné wires, or copper or silver wire mesh.

Reflections
The entire process helped students understand how the elements of line, shape, texture, color, pattern, and negative space work together to form a fully planned design. The meticulous technique of cloisonné gave students an appreciation for the work we viewed, and studying graffiti styles helped them grasp the expressive qualities and historical roots of the graffiti they see every day in Los Angeles.