Representing Identity Beyond the FaceActivities & Teaching Strategies
Active learning lets students physically engage with artworks and materials, making abstract concepts like identity in art tangible. This hands-on approach helps students move beyond assumptions that identity is only tied to facial likeness, encouraging them to see symbols, gestures, and environments as equally powerful communicators.
Learning Objectives
- 1Analyze how specific gestures and body language in artworks communicate emotional states or personality traits.
- 2Compare and contrast how different artists utilize personal objects or symbolic items to represent identity.
- 3Evaluate the effectiveness of abstract elements, such as color and form, in conveying a sense of self or belonging.
- 4Create an artwork that represents a chosen aspect of identity using non-figurative elements like texture, color, or symbolic objects.
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Gallery Walk: Artist Analysis
Display prints of artworks by artists like Tracey Emin or Grayson Perry. Students walk in pairs, noting how gesture, objects, or environments represent identity. Each pair records one insight per artwork on sticky notes and shares with the class.
Prepare & details
How can an artist represent identity without showing a face?
Facilitation Tip: During the Gallery Walk, place artworks around the room with sticky notes for students to jot observations directly on the walls.
Setup: Wall space or tables arranged around room perimeter
Materials: Large paper/poster boards, Markers, Sticky notes for feedback
Object Symbolism Still Life
Students bring one personal object to class. In small groups, they arrange objects into still lifes and draw them, discussing what each item reveals about identity. Groups present drawings and swap interpretations.
Prepare & details
Analyze how personal objects or environments can convey aspects of an individual's identity.
Facilitation Tip: For the Gesture Drawing Relay, set a timer for 30 seconds per pose to keep the energy high and prevent overthinking.
Setup: Flexible workspace with access to materials and technology
Materials: Project brief with driving question, Planning template and timeline, Rubric with milestones, Presentation materials
Gesture Drawing Relay
Pose models or use videos showing full-body gestures without faces. Students draw in pairs, switching roles every 2 minutes to capture emotion through line and form. Debrief on how gestures convey personality.
Prepare & details
Construct an artwork that communicates identity through non-figurative means.
Facilitation Tip: In the Abstraction Collage Workshop, provide a variety of textures and papers so students can experiment with tactile elements to reinforce their ideas.
Setup: Flexible workspace with access to materials and technology
Materials: Project brief with driving question, Planning template and timeline, Rubric with milestones, Presentation materials
Abstraction Collage Workshop
Provide magazines, fabrics, and paints. Individually, students create collages abstracting their identity using shapes and textures inspired by environments. Share in whole class critique, explaining choices.
Prepare & details
How can an artist represent identity without showing a face?
Setup: Flexible workspace with access to materials and technology
Materials: Project brief with driving question, Planning template and timeline, Rubric with milestones, Presentation materials
Teaching This Topic
Start by modeling how to analyze a single artwork in detail, focusing on one element at a time. Avoid rushing through activities—let students sit with their materials to explore symbolism deeply. Research shows that students grasp non-figurative representation better when they connect it to their own lives, so encourage personal connections throughout.
What to Expect
Successful learning looks like students confidently identifying and creating non-literal representations of identity, explaining their choices with specific examples from art or personal experiences. They should demonstrate an understanding that identity can be conveyed through movement, objects, spaces, and abstraction.
These activities are a starting point. A full mission is the experience.
- Complete facilitation script with teacher dialogue
- Printable student materials, ready for class
- Differentiation strategies for every learner
Watch Out for These Misconceptions
Common MisconceptionDuring the Gallery Walk, students may assume identity can only be shown through realistic faces or portraits.
What to Teach Instead
During the Gallery Walk, have students focus on non-facial elements like props or background settings. Ask them to write down one object or gesture that suggests identity, then discuss why a face isn’t necessary to convey it.
Common MisconceptionDuring the Object Symbolism Still Life, students may think personal objects are too ordinary to convey meaningful identity.
What to Teach Instead
During the Object Symbolism Still Life, provide a variety of common objects and ask students to arrange them in a way that tells a story about themselves. Have them explain their choices to peers to reveal the hidden meanings in everyday items.
Common MisconceptionDuring the Abstraction Collage Workshop, students may believe abstraction hides identity rather than reveals it.
What to Teach Instead
During the Abstraction Collage Workshop, guide students to start with a concrete emotion or memory and translate it into shapes and colors. After creating their collages, ask them to describe how their abstract choices still reflect their original idea.
Assessment Ideas
After the Gallery Walk, present students with 2-3 images of non-figurative identity artworks. Ask them to identify one key element (object, gesture, environment, abstract form) and explain in writing what aspect of identity it communicates.
During the Object Symbolism Still Life, have students share their preliminary sketches or object selections with a partner. Partners provide feedback using the prompt: 'Does this element clearly suggest an aspect of identity? If so, which one? If not, what could be changed to make it clearer?'.
After the Gesture Drawing Relay and Abstraction Collage Workshop, facilitate a class discussion using the question: 'How can a collection of everyday objects or gestures tell a more profound story about a person than a direct portrait?' Encourage students to reference specific examples from art or personal experience.
Extensions & Scaffolding
- Challenge students who finish early to create a second version of their collage or still life, incorporating feedback from peers to push their ideas further.
- Scaffolding for struggling students: Provide a list of possible symbols or gestures to help them brainstorm, then reduce the size of their artwork to focus on fewer elements.
- Deeper exploration: Invite students to research an artist who uses non-figurative identity and present one artwork with a written analysis connecting it to their own work.
Key Vocabulary
| Symbolism | The use of objects, colors, or forms to represent abstract ideas or qualities related to identity. |
| Gesture | The expressive movement or pose of a figure, used to convey emotion, action, or character without direct facial representation. |
| Environment | The setting or surroundings depicted in an artwork, which can reflect a person's background, culture, or social context. |
| Abstraction | The process of simplifying or distorting forms and colors to emphasize essential qualities or create a visual interpretation of an idea or feeling. |
| Metonymy | A figure of speech where a thing or concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with it, often used to represent identity through associated objects. |
Suggested Methodologies
Planning templates for Art
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