Finally, I have reached a point, in this exploration of the multi-faceted nature of the activity of drawing, when I can begin to identify with Alberto Giacometti’s passionate proclamation that ‘drawing is all’, for it seems to have a close relationship to the very roots of consciousness and to the process of individuation (Lord 1971). I began this piece of writing with a personal description of a memory of making a drawing. The vividness, with which I re-experienced the original incident, allowed me to catch hold of some of the sensory experiences which underpin both the original act and its re-conjuring, as a memory; and led me to investigate further, the significance of this intensity in relation to the fundamental human experience of existence. I began to feel that many of the psychological and physical elements that are involved are so fundamental to our being that they are easily overlooked and are difficult to define, and I suspected that by gaining a clearer understanding of these elements it might be possible to gain a deeper understanding of how drawing can strengthen this experience of being. The process of collecting and interpreting the complicated musings of contemporary artists, on the subject, provided a reservoir of themes that appeared to resurface in mutating forms and the structuring of the article became difficult, in a remarkably revealing way, since each angle that I chose seemed to lead, at once to every other element. It was difficult to find a linear structure of thought through which I could clarify my ideas. I gained some insight into the virtual impossibility of translating visual experience into words (Arnheim 1969) and I understood why the verbal and written explanations of visual artists often seem incomplete or deliberately obscure. Theories about consciousness and object relations offer explanations which allow art therapists to describe ways in which drawing and art-making are powerful tools in raising awareness and self-esteem. The physicality of drawing contributes to the tangibility of this process, facilitates the sensual and unifying nature of the experience and opens a dialogue with the unconscious. I think, perhaps, the rock art of the San gave the most vivid clues to what I am beginning to perceive as the primal role that drawing may play in strengthening our sense that we are truly alive. Barbara Stafford’s ideas about the usefulness of analogy point to additional reasons why drawing may be particularly helpful to us, as the inhabitants of fragmented and complex contemporary cultures. It mobilizes the unifying and healing potential of a kind of thought that makes creative use of perceived similarities (Stafford 2001). Drawing represents just such an analogy and is simultaneously, at a personal level, a unifying experience (Storr 1991). In Rudolph Arnheim’s estimation it is clear that artwork made in art therapy sessions is more than simple fantasy and that to some extent the patient has actually experienced the change that is embodied in the image. Arnheim believes the reality of the artistic experience should be taken seriously ‘not only because it is symptomatic but also because its consequences are as tangible as those of events occurring in the so-called real world’ (Arnheim 1986). I regard this article very much as the beginning of a process of discovering and clarifying the most basic elements that are particular to art therapy and I am aware that I have not yet begun relate these observations explicitly to more specific themes that are confronted by patients and therapists within therapy sessions. By gaining a broad perspective on the relationship between drawing and fundamental human experience I feel that I have raised further questions about the usefulness of ‘synesthetic unity’ in the context of art therapy, and a future, more detailed examination would shed light on the extent to which different ways of drawing can facilitate or, perhaps, inhibit this kind of integration. A deeper excavation of the archaeology of creativity would equip art therapists with a more precise set of tools with which to help their clients engage, more deeply with the experience of being alive. I have laid foundations which allow me to defend the claim that art is fundamental to human well-being and that art therapy should be widely available as an important and effective treatment for those members of our society who find themselves in psychological crisis. As I set out to do, at the beginning of this article, I have begun to explore the beginnings of the persuasive theoretical argument which is required in order to ‘describe the principles by which art therapy claims to be beneficial’ (Arnheim 1986). I am sitting with Jeannie in an art therapy session. She asks me to draw a picture of her, so that she can see herself as others see her. I suggest that perhaps the way we see ourselves may be more significant, to the way we are, than are the impressions of others. I, gently, persuade her to make a drawing of herself. She puts her hand to her face in order to trace the outline of her nose with her fingertips.
Finally, I have reached a point, in this exploration of the multi-faceted nature of the activity of drawing, when I can begin to identify with Alberto Giacometti’s passionate proclamation that ‘drawing is all’, for it seems to have a close relationship to the very roots of consciousness and to the process of individuation (Lord 1971). I began this piece of writing with a personal description of a memory of making a drawing. The vividness, with which I re-experienced the original incident, allowed me to catch hold of some of the sensory experiences which underpin both the original act and its re-conjuring, as a memory; and led me to investigate further, the significance of this intensity in relation to the fundamental human experience of existence. I began to feel that many of the psychological and physical elements that are involved are so fundamental to our being that they are easily overlooked and are difficult to define, and I suspected that by gaining a clearer understanding of these elements it might be possible to gain a deeper understanding of how drawing can strengthen this experience of being. The process of collecting and interpreting the complicated musings of contemporary artists, on the subject, provided a reservoir of themes that appeared to resurface in mutating forms and the structuring of the article became difficult, in a remarkably revealing way, since each angle that I chose seemed to lead, at once to every other element. It was difficult to find a linear structure of thought through which I could clarify my ideas. I gained some insight into the virtual impossibility of translating visual experience into words (Arnheim 1969) and I understood why the verbal and written explanations of visual artists often seem incomplete or deliberately obscure. Theories about consciousness and object relations offer explanations which allow art therapists to describe ways in which drawing and art-making are powerful tools in raising awareness and self-esteem. The physicality of drawing contributes to the tangibility of this process, facilitates the sensual and unifying nature of the experience and opens a dialogue with the unconscious. I think, perhaps, the rock art of the San gave the most vivid clues to what I am beginning to perceive as the primal role that drawing may play in strengthening our sense that we are truly alive. Barbara Stafford’s ideas about the usefulness of analogy point to additional reasons why drawing may be particularly helpful to us, as the inhabitants of fragmented and complex contemporary cultures. It mobilizes the unifying and healing potential of a kind of thought that makes creative use of perceived similarities (Stafford 2001). Drawing represents just such an analogy and is simultaneously, at a personal level, a unifying experience (Storr 1991). In Rudolph Arnheim’s estimation it is clear that artwork made in art therapy sessions is more than simple fantasy and that to some extent the patient has actually experienced the change that is embodied in the image. Arnheim believes the reality of the artistic experience should be taken seriously ‘not only because it is symptomatic but also because its consequences are as tangible as those of events occurring in the so-called real world’ (Arnheim 1986). I regard this article very much as the beginning of a process of discovering and clarifying the most basic elements that are particular to art therapy and I am aware that I have not yet begun relate these observations explicitly to more specific themes that are confronted by patients and therapists within therapy sessions. By gaining a broad perspective on the relationship between drawing and fundamental human experience I feel that I have raised further questions about the usefulness of ‘synesthetic unity’ in the context of art therapy, and a future, more detailed examination would shed light on the extent to which different ways of drawing can facilitate or, perhaps, inhibit this kind of integration. A deeper excavation of the archaeology of creativity would equip art therapists with a more precise set of tools with which to help their clients engage, more deeply with the experience of being alive. I have laid foundations which allow me to defend the claim that art is fundamental to human well-being and that art therapy should be widely available as an important and effective treatment for those members of our society who find themselves in psychological crisis. As I set out to do, at the beginning of this article, I have begun to explore the beginnings of the persuasive theoretical argument which is required in order to ‘describe the principles by which art therapy claims to be beneficial’ (Arnheim 1986). I am sitting with Jeannie in an art therapy session. She asks me to draw a picture of her, so that she can see herself as others see her. I suggest that perhaps the way we see ourselves may be more significant, to the way we are, than are the impressions of others. I, gently, persuade her to make a drawing of herself. She puts her hand to her face in order to trace the outline of her nose with her fingertips.
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