One of the things I love most about getting ready for our projects is digging into different artists. I have always been an Art History nerd at heart, and I love the art rabbit holes I get to dive down. This last project I got to do a lot of research into Precious Okoyomon. I completely fell in love.
The artist has become an art world star for creating indoor dreamscapes made of living and decaying materials. As an artist, poet, and chef, Okoyomon speaks their vision in a variety of ways, each pointing to a universal truth of interconnection - ecologically and historically. I would love to see one of their installations someday.
To kick off our work, I printed out several images from three different installations: The Milk of Dreams, To See the Earth before the End of the World (2022), the sun eats her children (2023), FRAGMENTED BODY PERCEPTIONS AS HIGHER VIBRATION FREQUENCIES TO GOD (2021). The kids and I sat down and quietly looked through everything. Rémy asked who the different figures were. So I asked him who he thought they were. This opened up a fascinating storytelling experience full of mothers, monsters, witches, bugs, and babies.
From there, I asked what kind of Precious Okoyomon story they would like to tell. Rémy came up with a mother character named Chitsu Matsu. Sierra wanted to recreate the bear figure from the sun eats her children, so they decided that Chitsu Matsu had little bear cub babies. This was the world we would build.
We then ventured out into the forest. I found a spot with plenty of mud and a large rock to stage everything around. Then we got to work.
The kids and I gathered buckets full of mud and hauled everything up to the big rock. This was some heavy load work! Once we had our main material, the kids started adding mud on top of the rock. Rémy said it was a like building a mud snowman. He wasn't wrong.
I held rocks in place while the kids sculpted around them, eventually creating a big mud woman reminiscent of all the mother goddesses carved throughout time. When her form was complete, we added a coat of dry dirt and leaves. Then Sierra finished her off by adding some vines around her.
Nests of rocks were built for the bears, who lay sleeping below their mother. Each child took a turn putting a bear to bed.
During the creation process, I watched my two little artists work together, focused on bringing their vision to life. I was impressed with how well they manipulated the mud, and how they fixed issues with the main sculpture as they arose. There was a productive hum to the whole morning.
And then we were finished, and it felt magical. I couldn't believe this was a preschool art project! There was something ancient in what they made, but it also captured the innocence of childhood. It's probably my favorite art experience with the kids so far.
