Transformational Process
of Art Making

Certain projects transcended simply making an image. The following projects went deeper, and brought forth a transformational experience in myself or others.

Light Figure

Vincent van Gogh continues to guide me. At times, it feels like there is no choice when coping with an issue, but as one ages and acquires new skills, those old coping mechanisms should be looked at honestly and without judgement.

I’ve seen how a when addictive patterns include a chemical it can have unintended bodily effects. Vincent, my father, and I all dealt with these effects, and they cannot be talked away. Serious inquiries about what behaviors are affecting one’s health can save one’s life and work.

 

  • Self Box

    Through artistic journey, we find the personal/professional path that leads us to the field of Art Therapy.

    Open Self Box

  • Self Portrait

    I no longer believe that I can be simply a therapist and not an artist. I must be both as they are intrinsically intertwined in how I will facilitate clients therapeutic work. Art is tied to childhood, to play, to non-verbal memories, to trauma, and in the integration of those things into a person’s life.

    Artist Statement

  • Somatics and Art Therapy

    Sometimes the process of making art itself is the therapy, and sometimes it is the job of the therapist to help get the client to a more regulated state so that they can make art and not create “defensive” art when they are just making something because they “have to.”

    In this piece, I focused for the first time on how physical states of being can impact art therapy. Twenty minutes before touching pencil to paper, I was led through a somatic breathing exercise. At the end of twenty minutes, I had completely shifted into a more present state of being. This has become a place I know well since starting at Southwestern.

    When I began graduate school, I had a long history of technical training in the arts. Every piece was well thought out and planned. After going through this somatic practice and multiple Mandala practices, my art making has shifted severely towards the spontaneous and the unconscious. At first, my ego fought hard against it, but that was a resistance to change. What I gained from following my subconscious in art has eclipsed what my ego had dictated what my art SHOULD look like.

    Working with clients who have had art training or have a perfectionist streak, especially in working with men, this negative self-criticism impedes the therapeutic benefit of art therapy. Breaking through the ego’s idea of what art is, allows us, clients and therapists, to reframe art and its role in our lives.