Giuseppe Penone: Nature and The Body

The children worked together to create a landscape painting using their fingerprints on a large piece of kraft paper roll. They were reminded that each human fingerprint is unique and that the closer and more layered the prints are, the more opaque the color becomes, and the less visible their own fingerprints became. This playful activity also allowed them to gain a new awareness of their bodies as they used their own hands to paint rather than traditional tools like paintbrushes.

The children were also invited to work with clay, using their hand gestures and movements imprinted in the matter. The shapes created were then utilized as clay stamps to add texture to their green fingerprint paintings. The individual volumes were also placed on the green landscape as many abstract figures or fantastical animals populating the green landscape made up of their fingerprints.  Similar to Penone, the young students also gathered natural materials in the park and garden nearby (sticks, leaves, grass) which they used to add to their large-scale paintings.

Penone is also known for employing rubbing techniques in his drawings. The young students used crayons over the top of tree bark or other surfaces gathered by the teachers. Grass was also used to stain the paper too, furthering their understanding that all the colors come from nature. Through these activities, we engaged the children in these natural and simple print-making techniques which they can replicate in future projects.  Furthermore, this group of kids gained a sense of understanding that they are part of the natural world; their skin and fingerprints being similar to trees and leaves.