Echoes of ancient Cambodia.

Will I carve dancers for the gods, elephants on parade, or a cosmic tug-of-war? Students looking for inspiration were eager to learn about the mysterious images by nameless artists from the Angkor Plain in Cambodia. Ancient sculptors spent their careers filling palaces and temple walls with lavish depictions of creation stories, military coups, and songs of praise to rulers.

Temple Walls

I chose the has reliefs of Cambodia's Angkor temples as a jumping-off point for my students' exploration of printmaking for several reasons. First, the reliefs offer primary evidence of the beliefs and values of the Khmer culture. These images are relatively easy for students to "read," which makes it possible for many to under stand and participate in discussions on the historical context of the art. Second, there is a wide range of subject matter in the reliefs, giving students many appealing choices in selecting images for their printing plates. Walls of the more than 100 temples in the region are filled with scenes of rural life, military processions, great battles, and religious epics. Third, the images carved on the walls have a wide variety of textures that lend themselves to relief carving. The surface decoration surrounding the images on the reliefs presents a rich array of plant and animal motifs that add impact to our prints. Finally, the temples are a backdrop for several popular movies and video games, which is sure to spark the interest of my students.

History

The images depicted in the temples reflect the Indian and Chinese influences on the Khmers. Early Khmer god-kings identified themselves with the Hindu gods Shiva and Vishnu. In fact, the architectural design of the most famous temple, Angkor War, is a representation of Mr. Meru, the cosmological home of the Hindu deities. Later Khmer kings converted to Buddhism and freely incorporated those icons and epic narratives in the decoration of their temples, sometimes mixing images from both religions in a single structure.

Research and Preparation

Most students were familiar with Hollywood's depiction of the temples of Cambodia. They were fascinated with asparas, that appeared around figures of greater deities. I showed my students slides of the temples and explained the historical background and the symbolic references of the images. Using contextual clues, students tried to guess the identities and social roles of figures they saw in the relief scenes.

Students visited our computer lab to research various sites on the Internet. They compared the written descriptions of the reliefs to their guesses from the previous week. By exploring the Cambodian sites independently students really got the feeling of touring the temples and palaces. As I monitored students on the computers, I noticed interests breaking down alone gender lines.

Boys drifted toward depictions of warriors and architectural vistas, and girls were fascinated with the headpieces and costumes of the asparas, deities, and members of the royal court. Several future fashion designers experimented with combining Cambodian chic and contemporary looks, which resulted in some final prints worthy of an Academy Awards ceremony.

Process

Because my students had no previous exposure to printmaking tools, I decided to have them carve a 2 x 3" (5 x 8 cm) stamp before attempting a more complicated image on a 4 x 6" (10 x 15 cm) plate. The soft printmaker's plate was easy to carve with linoleum cutters but students needed time to practice. I cautioned students to carve away from their bodies and avoid placing their hands in front of the tools while carving.

To keep things simple, the sketch was cut out and taped face down on the stamp. Students burnished the hack of the paper with the handles of their scissors to transfer the sketch to the stamp. To help students remember to carve out the areas on the sides of their drawn lines, a black felt-tip marker was used to thicken and darken all lines on the stamp (and later on the plate). My mantra throughout the carving process was "Carve away the white." Students began the carving process by cutting shallow incisions on each side of their black lines. The remaining white areas (which become negative space on the print) were carved away. Students proofed their stamps using black stamp pads.

I showed students how to brayer the correct amount of ink on their plates and print them, again using the burnishing method rather than a press. Students printed their plates with and without stamped borders, although those with borders came closest to replicating the feel of the in]ages carved on the Angkor temple walls.

A Purposeful Activity

Unexpectedly, students whose plates contained common elements chose to combine their plates in a single print to create horizontal narratives with larger pieces of paper. This was a purposeful activity to echo the look of walls in the temples. For students who had never printed before, completion of their printing plate was initially the focal point of the art-making experience. They were totally unprepared for the magic of slowly peeling back the paper from the carefully inked plate. Students reveled in the ability to make multiple prints to give to parents, friends, and favorite teachers. Most of all, they loved the no-risk aspect of innovating with ink and paper colors once the hard work of composing and carving was complete.

NATIONAL STANDARD

Students use subjects, themes, and symbols that demonstrate knowledge of contexts, values, and aesthetics that communicate intended meaning in artworks.

WEB LINK

witcombe.sbc.edu/ARTHLinks3. html#cambodia

Nancy Click Feiring is an art teacher at Byron A. Barry Elementary School in the Cartwright School District in Phoenix. Arizona [e-mail]