Paddington Class visit to Diorama Art Exhibition

Paddington Class were fortunate enough to experience  the fabulous work of Frome Artist Corinna Sargood in her exhibition – ‘Pictures and Dioramas’ at the Black Swan Gallery – ‘An extraordinary collection of multi layered, painted wood dioramas, dense and brilliant embroideries, prints and artist’s books. The exhibition explores her life in Mexico, Peru and the world of fairy tales and we were instantly transported into “a magical world of colour and Pop up Art” (Jacob)

We all had fun working out how Corinna created her artwork;

Alice liked “how the pictures weren’t just colourful but were sparkly too. I think she chose the first colour like blue or red and then sewed the sparkly gold or silver over the top.”

Leo thought “she used real wood and leaves” and Pippa was amazed when she found a “working clock at the top of the picture and then when you pulled the lever mermaids dropped down in front

of the clock!”

The children were challenged to play a version of I spy where they used their observational skills to spot interesting objects hidden within Corinna’s wonderful artwork;

Oliver spotted a special building, “I noticed a picture that had a castle on that reminded me of the Queens house” and Ted liked all the animals “poking their heads out of windows and cupboard” but he particularly

liked “the panther because she made it have sharp teeth and spots like a Leopard.”

Oakley thought that the people “looked like they were time travelling” in one picture and Eli’s impression was that “the people looked like ghosts.”

Bertie noticed ”lots of fancy, impressive, gold buildings” and Murray described the same picture as “the upside down city and the right way round city.”

We were very warmly welcomed by all at the Black swan gallery and the children were completely immersed in colour and storytelling.

Django was really delighted that “bits of the pictures move” and he enjoyed handling some of the artwork himself, “People had to wear gloves to touch and move the pictures so they didn’t damage them.”

We cannot wait to go back to ‘The Black Swan’ for another exhibition to view some different art or in Reuben’s words “maybe we could have our own exhibition?”

Paddington class are all extremely excited at the prospect of delving even deeper into the artwork of Corinna Sargood next term, especially investigating Dioramas and fairy tale art.

What a wonderful way to finish a very busy and exciting term!