Stacked Cardboard Castle inspired by Teresa Burga
A woman should be two things:
who and what she wants.
-Coco Chanel
Today I have the supreme delight of introducing you to one of my very favorite humans. The supremely talented Jackie of all trades: Amanda of barley & birch. From art world curation to stop motion animation to complete design rebrands and miniature modern house builds.. there is nothing this lady can’t do. I am convinced she has a heart three times bigger than most and magical star dust running through her veins. She is talented and generous and humble and kind. Her feed is an endless source of creative play and whimsical fun. If you aren’t following her feed go do that now! I am going to let A take it from here..
Bright pops of turquoise, greens and yellow. Bold bands of black. A spotted creature here, an unusual traffic sign there, and colorful characters in chic chapeaus. Welcome to the whimsical world of Teresa Burga - composed in my first learned language, shape and color.
As a graphic designer, I spend a lot of time discussing through design. When I lack for words, I have always found what I need in my alphabet of hues, forms, icons and patterns. Artists and designers like Henri Matisse, Mary Blair, Paul Rand, Morag Myerscough, Paul Klee, and Massimo Vignelli are some of the line language experts I’ve turned to repeatedly when creating my own designs. So when Arielle introduced me to the work of Teresa Burga last month…SWOON! The bright colors and playful shapes of Burga’s Prisma sculptures completely captured my heart. There was a spirit of imagination, sunny sense of joy, and touch of cheekiness that felt instantly familiar as I tabbed through Google Images, eating up her work and reading my love language.
Burga’s graphic Pop Art style, experimental processes and feminist themes made her an art pioneer throughout the 60’s and 70s’s. Her playful pop-y works, child-like by design, often ask the viewer to ponder where the line between “child” art and “adult” art is drawn. As I hopped through her exhibits, each gallery photo feeling like a trip to a big, bright playground, I felt vindicated in my belief that a line does not exist. This is a language that is generationally transcendent.
My favorite kinds of kids projects are those that explore the place where shape & line meet imagination. It’s a place RIPE for building, so taking Burga’s sculptures as a cue for inspiration, we built a world of our own in the form of colorful springtime castles.
From art table to playroom floor, the physicality of these graphic oversized building blocks provides a deliciously fun opportunity for interactivity and learning through play. And as for the theme…4 solid months of winter have me looking for spring wherever I can find it, but I’ve also found seasons are such a wonderful place for kids to start experimenting with illustration, and there are so many already-familiar icons. If seasons aren’t ringing your bell, so many other variations could be substituted - Burga’s own work features nods to the alphabet, transportation, animals, nature…where will her colors and lines take YOU…?
MATERIALS:
cardboard boxes and tubes in varied sizes
colored or patterned papers
gesso or white paint
colorful tape - washi or masking
white paper roll (kraft, butcher or wrapping)
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Step 1: Collect a variety of small boxes and tubes and cover with paint. You can use different colors on the sides of your boxes, or one color to cover an entire box. If you’re looking to save time, you can also wrap with paper instead (white butcher paper or wrapping papers would both work well).
Tip: Using boxes with quite a bit of printing that’s difficult to cover with paint? Here’s one of my favorite recycling tricks: Carefully take the box apart, turn inside out and tape back together with brown paper packing tape. Tada! Like magic, you have perfectly paintable blank surfaces on every side.
Step 2: Add some dynamic patterns to a few of your box sides. You can use pieces of patterned paper or wrapping paper, paint your own, or use washi tape/colored masking tapes. Burga’s sculptures feature pop-y patterns of bold stripes and polka dots, so we used bubble wrap to print colorful dots and washi tape for easy lines. This is a wonderful opportunity to experiment with stamping and printing!
Step 3: While your boxes are drying, make a list of seasonal imagery. We were thinking spring over here, so our list included puffy clouds, rainbows, bird nests, worms, butterflies, rain showers, flowers and more.
For a simpler variation, you can skip the more detailed designs or themes and just use geometric shapes in varying sizes to decorate your boxes.
Step 4: Using pre-cut geometric shapes, office supplies like label stickers, or free cutting your own, begin building and gluing seasonal elements to the sides of your boxes. We had a stack of scrap paper circles and rectangles we combined to create elements like our sun and bird nest. For pieces like the the butterfly, cloud and flower we found it was easier to free cut our own shapes.
The process of learning how to illustrate with basic forms is one of my favorite parts of this project, so enjoy the opportunity to experiment and make mistakes!
Step 5: Once you’ve finished decorating your boxes, stack into your own custom-built castle and add little details to give it a royal touch (like the banners we added to ours). The beauty of these graphic boxes is that every stacking combination gives your castle an entirely different look, so you can arrange and re-arrange - the possibilities are endless!
Loving this Burga castle project? Check out Amanda’s other artist inspired projects:
Memphis-Style Paper Sculptures · Alexander Calder Spring Sculptures · Scrap Stamp Shape Collages DIY Cardboard Shape + Pattern Puzzle · Frank Stella-Inspired Deconstructed Rainbow Collages
