Art… Art is the language of the silence.
The human being has been immerse in a jungle of stimuli, sounds and
images in the last decades, which appears will get worse with the constant changes
in technology and progress our contemporary society will face in the next
centuries. We are expose to the continue intention from
media, and general living standards to suck our minds from quiet places to the
running and overwhelmed world of lights,
messages, and directives in order to buy, follow instructions, and act as others tell you to, in order to “be part of” the Universal order. This constant
movement and the journey in surviving and accomplishing the major level of
satisfaction of basic, emotional, professional, educational and spiritual needs
might cause the most several and complex psychosomatic affections and other
psychological effects such as depression, anxiety, desperation and
hopelessness.
From the psychological perspective, the human being is running
is spiral looking for progress, and forgetting the essence of its constitution…
space! The way you represent yourself in
space is what constitute your essence and justify your existence. By working with adults and children in the
psychological field, more in specific by using multicultural perspectives in
mental health, I re-discovered the need of man of taking a break with some spaces
of reconciliation between the body and the soul… expressed in the re-connection of
the “rational thinking” with moments of “free representation of its essence
in the space” by use of artistic expression such as painting.
For my cultural antecedents, I have been compiling some images
from the universal collective unconscious regarding the use of the space and
the own presence of the artist in the representation of his world through the
creation.
Some clear examples of “transformation of the space” is the
introverted vision of the creations through the eyes of the artist. When the artist takes the paintbrush and press
his/her hand on the paper, rock or canvas, then is the start of the journey in
the projection of the unconscious fly. From
my own experience, several images from different places start running on the
space when the eyes of the artist initiate the magic tingling as if you are in
a dream. The places of the journey may vary.
Some will be much like the geography seen on earth with mountain, trees, rivers,
valleys, rocks, birds… Some places are airy like the sky, or might project being
and feeling very energetic, or peaceful, or even being through the deep of the earth
like in a volcano. A journey destination
can be anything much because the rules doesn't exist in creative process and
gravity does not exist neither.
The purpose of the journey is not other than the healing of
self. Purposes can include healing oneself or another by projecting images of
collective relationships. In my specific experience by working with children, they might be projecting in their paintings some images of care from caregivers, sounds
from the singing of the mother projected in a color or a little sign on the
paper, their “want to be” in the family dynamic, the perspective of their bedrooms,
the fear to the dark, the details of little furniture that just the eyes of a
little one might catch. Every detail
count for the healing of the mind and soul.
The images might reflect as well enjoyment, connection with positive
people in their lives, with guardian spirits and superheroes; positive learning, religious
growth and many other things because painting is like a journey and journeying
is a diverse tool.
Some artist may journey into smaller
dimensions such as between the molecules of water or into the cells of the
body, between rocks in the ocean, on the top of a cloud. Some artist may explore big and diverse or
specific and little cosmology by going to one or two specific places. Another artist
may visit many different places, or travel very large distances, like in a
dream or maybe from projection of previous lives.
Artistic expression is one of the more
effective techniques to reconnect with the essence and to learn new ways to
make the soul rest, contemplate and let itself be involved in those places in
which the recovery and healing will nurture those old pattern of suffering. The lecture of the therapist it would orient
the creative (the artist, the client, the patient) for new horizons for a new
and more positive perception of the reality, by asking questions, by processing
feelings from the images, by re-creating the landscapes for more colorful and
positive scenarios… transforming the
rain in a rainbow or giving value to the more positive images placed in their memories are being part of the process of healing and spiritual growing.
The next time you will observe a flower, imagine
what immense and diverse world is inside it and go in there in your next
journey while use artistic experiences. The life is too short to live it
without “feeling it” by approaching each little experience and stimuli. A healthy mind involved thinking in your
existence and what can you do to prevent the circular effect of dizziness while
living a life expected by others but not being the one dreamed by you. You are
the main character of this story, act like it.
Amarilys Reyes
Ama is a Marriage and Family Therapist Intern working for a contracted agency of the DMH in Van Nuys. California.
Ama works in a Mental health program for children, using art and multicultural experiences with majorly with families from Latino and African American background.
