Subject Matter and Kaupapa

In Art, the subject matter and kaupapa are an important foundation to start creating amazing artwork. A subject matter is what you see in the artwork (objects, incidents, people, or places) whereas a kaupapa (theme) is the content and meaning of the artwork. Artists make their artwork by expressing their kaupapa (theme) through subject matter.

In class, we were given a google slide with the artworks below. We were tasked to answer the questions written on the slides with the artworks. This is a good practice to enhance our knowledge about subject matter and kaupapa in art.

The artworks above express different themes of how they are represented and explained by the artwork itself. Referring to these subject matter that expresses a meaning, the term denotation and connotation are used. It is a figure of speech where a word has both. Denotation gives the exact meaning of a word while connotation gives the word's emotional meaning.