Healing power of art, an illustration by Fayez Barakat, via College of Medicine
The healing power of art became the inspiration for a portable museum dedicated to beauty and consolation, a unique book about art which is also about psychology and healing: a true piece of art therapy.
Art Against Despair:Pictures to Restore Hope and Healing-A Must-see and read book
‘One of the most unexpectedly useful things we can do when we're feeling glum or out of sorts is to look at pictures. The best works of art can lift our spirits, remind us of what we love and return perspective to our situation. A few moments in front of the right picture can rescue.'
Photo: The School of Life
‘This is a collection of the world’s most consoling and uplifting images, accompanied by small essays that talk about the works in a way that offers us comfort and inspiration. The images in the book range wildly across time and space: from ancient to modern art, east to west, north to south, taking in photography, painting, abstract and figurative art. All the images have been carefully chosen to help us with a particular problem we might face: a broken heart, a difficulty at work, the meanness of others, the challenges of family and friends… We’re invited to look at art with unusual depth and then find our way towards new hope and courage.’
Read Extract HERE
Buy the book HERE
Nonverbal therapy helps people work through trauma and build resilience.
BY GIRIJA KAIMAL
Photo:AmericanScientist
‘One-fourth of the global population is at risk of developing a mental health challenge in their lifetime, and one-fifth of children and adolescents could develop mental health problems, according to a 2014 World Health Organization report. Wars, adversity, discrimination, natural disasters, and illnesses such as COVID-19 further exacerbate these unmet needs for psychosocial support.
'Oscar Wilde once said, “Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.” Art provides a way to communicate experiences when individuals lack verbal skills or when words are insufficient. Humans evolved artistic expression as an imaginative tool for adapting to changing conditions and solving problems. Other scholars and I have asserted that art making is an integral part of human functioning, and that it helps humans survive. As an art therapist, I have spent decades trying to understand the role of art making as a therapeutic tool…’- Continue to read
Artists Who Experience Their Own Healing Process Through Art
By Renee Phillips
Painting by Tara Moorman
‘When we announced our call for artists for our Healing Power of ART 2020 exhibition, we asked artists to let us know if they create art as a modality for healing. We are honored to introduce you to several artists who not only create outstanding works of art, they are artists who experience their own healing process through art.
This website was created based on our belief that art serves as a positive catalyst for enhancing the well-being of individuals, society and the environment. We believe that art has the power to heal, inspire, provoke, challenge and offer hope. We will continue to share healing art and articles about art and healing…’- Continue to read
‘Colours help my heart and mind to heal’:
Hiromi Tango, the artist using rainbows to cheer up the world
Hiromi Tango in front of her piece Red Moon at her studio in Tweed Heads. Photo: David Maurice Smith/Oculi/The Guardian
'From her studio in Tweed Heads, in the New South Wales northern rivers region, artist Hiromi Tango has become well-known for making rainbow art to aid her mental health and that of others. Yet for the two years prior to the pandemic, she wore only white: her way of grieving humanity’s environmental impact, evidenced in reef coral bleaching.
The grief was also personal. Tango wanted to metaphorically “cleanse” her spirituality, genetics and memory. So, she covered herself in white housepaint for Bleached Genes, a photographic series that was “based on my father being bedbound and going through dementia, and him not realising who I am sometimes”.
When we speak, the 46-year-old Japanese-born artist is in Hobart to unveil her new work Rainbow Dream Moon Rainbow: a vibrant playground and meditation space inside a graffitied Hobart warehouse, as part of Dark Mofo festival. The rainbow panels, platforms and human-sized mouse wheels were painted and fabricated by freelance artists and craftspeople on the apple isle; they’re scattered in multiple rooms amid projections of rotating rainbow spirals. It is an Instagram-ready space for immersive selfies; at its peak so far, there has been an hour-long queue outside to enter...'- Continue to read
Ocean Mandala by Sumit Mehndiratta. "Ocean Mandala" was inspired by the Pacific Ocean. Mandala is a Sanskrit
word meaning 'circle' and is a spiritual and ritual symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism, representing the Universe.
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Related/similar articles: A pick from our archive
World in Chaos: The Healing Power of Gardens
Interfaith Spiritual Music to Heal the World, GCGI 1st Conference, Oxford 2002
Compassion, kindness, hope, courage and joy: The Path to a More Loving World
‘Hope is a thing with feathers’
New Year calls us to hope beyond despair and light beyond darkness
In a world that seems so troubled, how do we hold on to hope?
Meister Eckhart: A Mystic Warrior for Our Times and the Healing Powers of the Four Es
Build a Better World: The Healing Power of Doing Good
Healing the world as if the web of life mattered: In Praise of Ancient Wisdom
Rediscovering the art of healing ourselves and all that is around us
Spirituality and Environmentalism: Healing Ourselves and our Troubled World
One who dreams is called a prophet
We are not the Masters, We are the Servants: Time to Reassess our Relationship with Nature