Recently I have presented the ongoing work in south India at
various conferences and gatherings on art therapy around the world. In November
of 2012, I presented at the
Expressive Therapies Summit in NYC and this May I
shared an exploration of tradition and therapy at the
International Conference on Art Therapy, in Shenzen, China. I was fortunate to meet and exchange with
art therapists, colleagues, educators and collaborators in related fields
around the world, including Saudi Arabia, Africa, Europe, Australia and beyond.
After this workshop, I spent one month in an artist
residency program at
Da Wang Cultural Highland outside of Shenzen. In this lush
mountain art village setting, a deeper personal process was able to emerge. As
an art therapist, it was an act of radical self-care to spend this time focused
solely on my own experience of materials and the creative journey. I
appreciated the importance of basic needs when making art, including resources
and the safe container necessary to express oneself.
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| Mountain range view in Guandong Province, near Shenzen, China |
Through a series of mandalas created in this new
environment, personal and collective archetypes emerged in a series of birds. The
birds emerged as a set of guardians, gurus, and companions with relevant
messages in a visual story. I developed a set of six mandalas referencing the
chakras, basic corresponding colors, and symbolism through each different type
of bird. Through gouache painting, embroidery, beadwork, printmaking and
various recycled and mixed media, I found the basis for a future children’s book
about the creative literacy process I have shared as the basis of my art
therapy work around the world. In the story, a young bird named Hue experiences
each color through interactions with other birds, and discovers the deeper
significance of each both for himself and on a larger scale. If funding is secured for fully developing the story, I hope to publish it next year.
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| A mandala painting series in progress in the studio at Da Wang. |
Please see much more about the journey in China through many photos captured during the trip
here.
